My Slytherin Harry
by hermyd
Summary: If things were different, and Harry was a Slytherin, and Ginny's parents had tried their best to keep her away from him, what would happen when she's finally had enough? Anti lots of people, Grey Harry.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: So, aside from the fact that Harry Potter is not my brilliant idea, there are a few other things to say. This is in first person again, but no, I'm not going to always write my stories that way. I have reasons when I do. This will be short, sorry, but it's already done.

This is rated M because there is quite a bit of... interesting violence, and they are a bit callous about it. As you'll see shortly, this Harry is definitely _not _canon Harry, please keep that in mind. Also, there are allusions to intimate relations, though I won't go into any detail in this story.

Now, to the story:

* * *

I struggled not to roll my eyes as Mum set about straightening my robes and patting my hair as if I was still five years old. She had always treated me as if I was a small child, but lately it seems she thinks I am getting younger instead of older. I wish there was a way for me to get out from under her thumb, but I still have almost two years to go. And most days I worry that she will find a way to keep me her prisoner even after I am of age. I wouldn't put it past her. Despite all evidence to the contrary, she still seems to think she can mould me into a perfect imitation of herself.

"Now, remember, Ginny dear. Keep your necklace on always, and keep up with your studies. I know you will only have one of your brothers with you at school this year, but Ron will still be checking up on you for us. And remember to be careful; with You-Know-Who back you never know who might be trying to hurt you. And I've written to Professor McGonagall; I don't think it is safe for you to visit Hogsmeade this year. It is just too dangerous."

I sighed. It was looking like this year was going to be even worse than last year. Mum had carefully stripped away all my freedom and all I was left with was school work. At least fifth year classes should be more interesting and keep me busier. Of course, I had already studied much of the material as I had had nothing else to do last year. Not to mention the fact that Tom had left most of his knowledge behind. But maybe I could find something to hold my interest. I could learn to be an animagus; that is supposed to take years. "I'll study hard, Mum." I hope she didn't notice that that was all I agreed to. I was learning to be much more careful what I promised my mother. I had learned the hard way not to act as the rash Gryffindor she thought I still was.

"Do be careful what you study, dear. I don't like the idea of some of those books that are in the Hogwarts library." I tried not to let any emotions show at this. She was referring to the time last year I had tried to study up on the Imperius Curse. I had heard from Hermione that Harry Potter had been able to throw it off completely the year before, and I was curious. Ron had told Mum about it and she had sent a letter to the Headmaster. He had banned me from looking at any of the books related to the Dark Arts except a proscribed list that would enable me to do my homework. He said it was because Mum was worried that those evil Dark Arts would hurt my delicate sensibilities. Hogswash. The only delicate thing about me is my size. "And make sure to study with friends, dear. I don't like the idea of you sitting alone in the library all day. Some Slytherin snake could try and take advantage of you."

I gritted my teeth. She may have cautioned me against all Slytherins, but I knew which one she meant. She wanted me to stay away from Harry Potter. She always wanted me to stay away from Harry Potter. "I'll try and get my friends to study with me, Mum." Of course, I already knew that Amanda and Colin wouldn't want to spend any extra time in the library, and they were really the only people in my year who ever talked to me. Well, except Luna. But she didn't care what books I read, or who was keeping me company. In fact, she seemed to find me much more interesting when I wasn't doing as I was supposed to.

"And I know that you are starting to grow up, and the boys are going to start noticing you, dear, but you are really too young to be involved with anyone romantically." Yeah, she only accepted this because she had to. She threw a fit this year when I finally put my foot down and insisted she buy me bras. But really, refusing to buy them for me didn't mean I didn't need them. I had had to appeal that decision to Dad, and he threatened to buy them for me himself if she didn't take me out because, really, they were necessary at this stage in my life. "You wouldn't be able to judge anyone well enough to know if they were good enough for you. So it is just better if you stay away from boys this year. There will be plenty of time for romance after you finish school. And then your father and I can help you sift through all those who may show an interest in you. Some boys, no matter what everyone else may think of them, would be a horrible influence on you, dear. I don't want anyone around you who could hurt my little princess."

My hands clenched in anger. Again, I could hear what she was really trying to tell me: Stay away from all boys until your father and I can decide who we deem appropriate, and don't go anywhere near Harry Potter. I couldn't find a way to answer this with a half-truth, and so I pasted a false smile on my face and nodded instead. I didn't like outright lying to her, but I also didn't want to make a promise I had no intention of keeping. I was determined to change some things about my life this year, no matter what Mum wanted me to do. I had been thinking and scheming all summer long while avoiding any contact with my family, and just waiting until the moment I returned to school. With only Ron there, who I could easily take, I was finally going to make my bid for freedom.

And Merlin help anyone who tried to stop me.

* * *

It was the morning of the first day of my fifth year, and I was happily sitting at the Gryffindor table, chatting with Amanda and Colin and eating breakfast. It was good to be back at Hogwarts finally. Things had been incredibly tense all summer, ever since the public announcement that Voldemort had returned. My life, which had always been difficult, had only gotten worse, and I had finally had it. I had put up with my family's prejudices and plans for me for years, and I was heartily sick of it. I felt like I was all alone. And the one person I was convinced would be on my side I had been carefully kept away from. My gaze shot over to the end of the Slytherin table, where Harry Potter sat isolated and alone. He had always done such. I guess I had thought, though, that now that everyone knew Voldemort was back things might be different, as he had been lauded as a hero all summer in the Prophet.

Apparently, his isolation was by choice, not necessity.

I remember when I was ten and we took Ron for his first train ride to school. I had seen Harry Potter that day, a sad and lost little boy, all alone, who had watched us curiously from a distance. I always got the impression that he didn't know how to get onto the platform and was watching as my brothers went through. And for one brief moment he had looked up and our eyes had met, and a shock went through my heart. I had never felt anything like it before in my life. I spent most of the next year dreaming about meeting him in person, despite Ron informing me that he was a loner Slytherin that seemed to never say a word to anyone. And I had made a concerted effort at the beginning of my first year. I had purposely smiled at him or said hi every time I saw him, and most times he would offer me a small smile in return.

But then Tom took hold of me. I don't remember much of the rest of that year, just that I woke up in the Chamber of Secrets, right beside a dead Basilisk, in Harry Potter's arms. It was a position that had merit.

_I blinked up at him, confused. "Harry?"_

_He smiled softly, and his hand came up to brush my hair out of my face. I had never seen so much emotion on his face before. "I'm glad you're all right, Ginny. I was worried about you." My heart fluttered at his words._

_I looked around in confusion at the dank and dreary chamber I was in. And I had no idea what the great dead snake was doing at my side. I shivered at the bloody holes that were in place of its eyes, and tried to remember how I had gotten there, but drew a total blank. I didn't even know where I was. "What are you doing here? And where exactly are we?"_

_He chuckled, something I had never heard him do before. It was pleasant. "We're in the Chamber of Secrets, and I'm here to save you. Tom Riddle, Lord Voldemort, tricked you and lured you down here."_

_My eyes went wide. Tom was Voldemort? How had I missed that? Why hadn't I realised that he was so evil? I guess some part of me had known all along, but why had I continued to allow him to use me? I couldn't stop the tears from falling. "I'm sorry, Harry." I noticed with horrified eyes the large amounts of blood on his robes. "Are you okay?" Worry blossomed in the pit of my stomach. He couldn't be hurt, he just couldn't. _

_"Of course. It was a piece of cake. I'm just glad I got here in enough time."_

_"Enough time?"_

_"To save you, of course."_

_I didn't know how to answer that, so I remained silent. It seemed odd to me that Harry Potter, who never spoke to anyone, was not only having an entire conversation with me while I sat in his arms, but had purposely come down here to save me. I was nothing special._

_He looked at me carefully and sighed. "We should probably go. I'm sure you're family is really worried." He had an odd look in his eyes as he said this, but I didn't understand it. Maybe he was missing his own family? I'm sure he must. I had no doubt that the family who had raised him, Mum once told me it was his Muggle aunt, loved him. After all, they had lost his parents, so he was the only one they had left. And who could help but love him?_

_He helped me up, took my hand, and led me out of the Chamber. I shrunk into his side as he led me back out of the Chamber. I didn't catch the spell he whispered to get us up the final pipe. _

I shook my head, not wanting to dwell on that year any longer. I still hadn't told anyone what happened down in the Chamber, and I had carefully kept to myself the things I discovered afterwards. Tom Riddle may have possessed me that year, but in doing so he left behind an awful lot of knowledge. Most of it was dark, so I didn't know what to do with it. And, worse, despite the fact that I knew it was dark, much of it was… intriguing. Of course, he had also helped me significantly in my school work, as his grades in school had been excellent. Combined with the fact that I spent an inordinate amount of time in the library because it was the only thing I was _allowed_ to do these days, this meant that I had the highest grades in my year, and had even beaten most of Hermione's scores. I had neglected to tell her about that little detail. I had a feeling she wouldn't take it very well.

"Ginny?" I looked up to Amanda's concerned face. "Are you okay?"

I smiled. "Of course. I was just thinking." I smiled brilliantly at her. I had gotten good at hiding my true feelings years ago. It was a skill I had quickly learned was necessary to survive in my home, and to blend in at school.

She nodded and we stood to head towards our first class of the day. History of Magic. I wasn't tired enough to need a nap yet, which was the only thing History was good for, so as I entered the room and took a seat in the back corner I returned to my earlier musings. After Harry rescued me from the Chamber, things got interesting for a bit. Mum and Ron weren't happy about me showing up in Dumbledore's office with Harry Potter; I don't think they trust anyone in Slytherin, especially the enigmatic hero. Ron followed me around for the rest of the term, roughly pulling me away if I even so much as looked at Harry, and when I got home Mum lectured me about proper friends and forbade me to talk to him. I was now very much regretting the fact that she eventually got me to agree. And I was still rather confused at how she ever wore me down. It didn't make sense that I would have conceded that point, and I could no longer remember the arguments she used.

My second year of school was mostly normal. Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban, supposedly to get revenge by killing Harry Potter, and so the Ministry sent Dementors to guard the school. They were terrifying, but I never had to be near them so I managed to mostly forget they were there. On Halloween, the entire school was in an uproar because Black supposedly broke in and Harry Potter went missing. He came back the next day, though, so he must have been all right. And the following week the Ministry removed the Dementors. The papers said that Black had been sighted in Europe and they thought the threat had passed. That was also around the time Ron lost his stupid pet rat. I remember because he spent so long whining about that stupid thing I took to hiding in the library to avoid him. (This had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Harry tended to be there a lot. I was keeping my promise to Mum not to talk to him, but that didn't mean I couldn't watch him as often as possible.)

It was the end of that year when things started getting really interesting. When we got to the train station, I had just found Mum and Dad when I heard a huge commotion. There were some rather disturbing looking Muggles who were screaming in the direction of Harry, and, as I watched, he looked up at me, winked, and disappeared. Mum and Dad were asked by Dumbledore to stick around and try and find out what happened, and I was questioned several times about Harry's parting gesture. I had nothing to tell them; I hadn't spoken to him in over a year. Turns out the Muggles were Harry's family; I have no idea how he survived for so long with them as they looked perfectly awful. I, for one, was glad that he seemed to have found somewhere else to stay for the summer. He deserved better than them. I only wish that he could have somehow taken me with him; I was envious of his escape.

Dumbledore was by often that summer, whispering with Mum and Dad. The twins and I tried numerous times to eavesdrop; it never worked. But I'm pretty sure they were talking about Harry's mysterious disappearance. I also noticed that Mum kept an annoyingly close watch on me the entire summer, and when an unknown white owl delivered me a birthday present, I hadn't been allowed to keep the lovely necklace it brought.

It was a vastly different Harry Potter that showed up for the train on September first. He had grown even more than Ron, which was saying something, and filled out quite a bit as well. His hair was still its usual messy disarray, but he no longer wore glasses, and his piercing green eyes had the ability to see through you. I got the feeling that he always knew what I was thinking whenever I looked at him. He was constantly followed around by the largest black dog I had ever seen; it more than strongly resembled a Grim and had sent Ron into a complete tizzy the first time he saw it. It was hilarious. But the biggest change in Harry Potter was something I didn't get to witness myself for several months. But Ron and Hermione told me about it. Actually, they complained and ranted about it enough for me to piece together what had happened.

Over the course of one summer, Harry Potter went from a slightly above average user of magic to a near prodigy. I've never seen Hermione in such awe of someone before. And she got so upset when she couldn't figure out how he learned it all. Me? I was seriously jealous that I didn't get to see it. Luckily for me, that didn't last long, as Harry was mysteriously entered as the fourth Champion in the Triwizard Tournament. When his name came out of the Goblet, he didn't seem that shocked, rather resigned. His name caused an eruption in the Great Hall, most people angry about what they saw as him cheating his way in to more fame. I thought this was all ridiculously ironic. I had been watching Harry Potter for years, and not once had he ever welcomed or encouraged attention of any sort, and yet everyone thought he did. The one person who never wanted fame and fortune was the one who couldn't get away from it. But then he performed this nifty little trick that proved it hadn't been him who entered his name. Dumbledore's jaw actually dropped open when Harry did so. Of course, they still made him compete. Magically binding contract and all that.

Harry's fight against the dragon was amazing. Even Charlie, who was there to control the dragons, was astounded by what he could do. He used spells that no one had ever heard of before, and he did it all from the back of a broom while performing aerial feats more astounding than those I had witnessed at the World Cup the previous summer. Ron spent the whole time complaining that the no-good-dirty-Slytherin was so talented on a broom and yet ecstatic that Harry had decided not to play Quidditch (as it surely would have meant we lost every match we played them in). I watched the entire thing in complete awe, and not a small amount of jealousy. But mostly the awe. Not only had the little boy I could never get out of my head grown up, he had gotten powerful. It was an incredibly attractive feature. And by attractive I mean he nearly had me panting after him like a dog in heat. Which was slightly difficult to hide from Ron, who was sitting right beside me. It was that moment that I seriously began to reconsider following my mother's edict to stay away from him. He was just so... so appealing.

Mum made me come home for Christmas break that year, and I have the feeling she was making sure I couldn't go to the Yule Ball. I must have betrayed my more than passing hope that I would be able to dance with Harry there. She also spent most of the break ranting about how they should have expelled Harry for some of the magic he used during the First Task. Evidently, many of the spells were considered borderline dark, thought they fell in that grey area that the Ministry wouldn't punish. This didn't bother me. He had only been defending himself.

The fact that he looked hot doing so was just a lovely added bonus.

The second task was equally amazing. Harry entered the lake and was back again in under fifteen minutes. In his arms he carried a small house elf. A _house elf_. The person Harry Potter would miss the most was an _elf_. Of course, it wasn't quite that simple. Hermione told me the story later that day, as she had been present—being Victor Krum's hostage and all. Evidently, they had some kind of fancy magical device that determined who each Champion would miss the most. When they used it for Harry, it delivered a name. _My name_. Mum was called and flat out refused to allow me to participate, and Dumbledore agreed with her. I guess he is in on the conspiracy to keep me away from Harry. Manipulative old bastard. They used the device again, and out popped the name of Sirius Black. You know, the mad murderer that betrayed Harry's parents and broke out of jail to kill him? Yeah, it totally made no sense, or at least not right then. As no one knew how to get a hold of Sirius Black, they used it a third time. And hence the elf. Evidently he had freed the elf after my first year (I chose not to ask how or why, as I was scared it had something to do with the Chamber) and ever since the elf had been taking care of him out of thanks.

I still don't know what to make of the fact that my name came out first. Of course, given the other two names that popped out, it is entirely possible that the stupid device was severely malfunctioning. But a girl can hope. Mum sent me a letter after that, making me reiterate my promise of staying away from Harry, or risk being pulled out of Hogwarts. I didn't see how this was fair. Why was everyone always on my case about Harry? I hadn't even talked about him in front of my family for years.

The third task was even more interesting. Harry made it through the maze in record time, only to disappear as soon as he touched the Cup. He returned about twenty minutes later, looking rather worse for the wear, and clutching the unconscious body of an extremely pathetic looking man. When Dumbledore saw them, his face went completely white.

The next day, I understood why. Peter Pettigrew was convicted of murder, being a member of an illegal organization, conspiracy to murder, and the framing of Sirius Black. Sirius Black, who it turns out was Harry's godfather, was completely exonerated. Of course, no one had any idea where he was. But there was a nice announcement in the Prophet all the same. And Harry Potter was smiling like I had never seen at breakfast that morning, and even running around laughing with that giant dog of his. I had never heard him really laugh before. I spent nearly an hour hiding behind a tree and watching him out on the grounds enjoying himself.

It was only because Mum and Dad are so close to Dumbledore (and they felt the need to tell Charlie, who let the rest of us know immediately) that I learned anything about what had happened to Harry. He had been kidnapped and used in a ritual to resurrect Voldemort. Of course, the Ministry refused to accept Dumbledore's word for this. It didn't help that Harry never actually admitted to it. No one knew how he escaped alive. I spent the summer in lock down in my room. I wasn't even allowed outside to help with chores. This left me plenty of time to plot what I wanted to do the following year. And some of the things I came up with would have made the twins proud; I was determined to get a chance to talk to Harry, even if I had to distract the entire school to do so. Come to think of it, I wonder why I never actually went through with any of my plans. I can't actually remember why I decided against doing them, but I was determined that the same thing wouldn't happen this year. I was going to do as I wished, and if that included talking to the mysterious boy I had always been inexplicably drawn to, then so be it. I was a strong witch, and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me this time. Plus I was down to only one brother-keeper, and the weakest of the lot. Well, maybe not weaker than Percy, but I tended to forget about him most of the time. Git.

When school started again last year, I was given a simple charm necklace to wear, and instructed to never take it off. Of course, I tried as soon as I got on the train. I think the stupid thing was welded to my neck; it wouldn't budge. At least it was pretty, but I got the feeling that it was there for more than just decoration. And I resented the hell out of that thing. I reached up to where it rested against my neck and tugged helplessly at it even though I knew it wouldn't budge. Stupid thing.

Last year was tense. The Minister was trying his best to discredit Dumbledore and Harry, and we were all apprehensive waiting for Voldemort to go back on the offensive. Due to some rather clever inventions of the twins, we were able to deduce that he was only laying low until he could get his hands on some sort of weapon. We never were able to find out what this weapon was. Then, one night in early June, Harry Potter went rigged during dinner and ran out of the Great Hall, disappearing for the rest of the night. Half of the professors were running around frantic. The next day, the Prophet announced the return of Voldemort and had a spectacular picture of Harry duelling him in the atrium of the Ministry itself.

I admit that I still have a copy of that picture hidden in my trunk. But I only look at it in the privacy of my own bed. I don't need my roommates seeing me drooling over Harry. Some things were just too private to share even with my sometimes friends. Especially as they had never understood why I showed any interest in a _dirty Slytherin_. But I didn't mind his house; if anything it made me feel better as I was confident it meant he wouldn't blindly follow Dumbledore as everyone else seemed to. And I happen to look fabulous in green. (In fact, the Sorting Hat had showed more than a passing interest in putting me in Slytherin, but the Weasley blood won out in the end. I admit that I had been slightly disappointed, as it would have been an excellent way to get close to Harry.)

I looked up, startled to realise that class was already over. Good. History has to be the most boring class in, well, ever. Maybe that's why a ghost teaches it; anyone else would put themselves to sleep as they taught. But it did allow me to think about Harry unencumbered. This was a rare thing. All of last year, it seemed that every time I wasn't in class one of my brothers was constantly under foot. Ron seemed to realise that this was to keep me from even looking at Harry; I don't think the twins realised this much. I got the feeling that they thought he was an okay bloke; there were even rumours that he had helped with several of their more elaborate pranks in the past. But Mum had asked them to keep an eye on me, and so they did. No one could ever accuse a Weasley boy of not keeping careful watch over their innocent and naive little princess of a sister. Or, at least, that seemed to be the image they were going for.

It was no secret in my family that I had wanted to marry Harry Potter since about the moment I started talking. When I was little, I was encouraged in this. Mum helped me plan numerous garden weddings, and Dad would tell me stories about him every night before bed. I'm now fairly certain that most of the stories were complete hogswash, but I didn't know that at the time. On the drive to take Ron to his first year, Mum spent most of it explaining that Harry Potter was starting this year as well, and encouraging both Ron and I to try and be his friends. But then Harry was sorted into the House of Snakes. That next year, when Ron was at school and I was still home, Mum stopped her encouragement of my fantasies, though she never actually came out and said anything against them. I got the impression that she thought I would grow out of them as soon as I saw what a snake he really was at school; she failed to realise that I had never minded snakes. Frightfully useful creatures; they ate rats. I hate rats.

When that didn't happen, the discouragement began in droves. It got to where Mum would bring him up in conversation just to spend the entire time detailing exactly how horrible of a boy he was. I found this hard to understand, as she had never actually met him and she had spent the last ten years or so singing his praises. She was constantly asking Ron to tell stories of how aloof Harry was, how he clearly felt himself superior to everyone. I didn't think this was the case. I thought he was just lonely and shy. I could sympathise. Although I was never truly lonely, having a brother or six always around, and I was seldom shy, having been rather outgoing as a child (something Tom cured me of), I was rarely treated as a person by any of my family. It made for a rather miserable existence. When I went to school, it didn't get any better. After the horrors of my first year, most of the school stayed away from me, or were only vaguely civil. Colin was the only one who showed a great deal of enthusiasm to be my friend, but I'm fairly certain that's just because he wanted to snog me. As if _that _would ever happen. I would rather kiss Neville's pet toad Trevor. Just _ewww._

Reliving the memories of these conversations with my mother kept me occupied all throughout Ancient Runes. I knew it all anyway; Tom had been an excellent Runes student; it was the reason I had taken the subject in the first place. Amanda was still sending me odd looks as we headed to lunch, but I just ignored her; she only paid any attention to me because she liked to know all the latest gossip, and I had a reputation for paying attention and knowing what was going on with everyone. I don't know why all these things were suddenly hitting me now. Why exactly had Mum been so set against me even talking to Harry? He seemed decent enough. Why were she and Dad so concerned about where he was all the time? It really was none of their business. And more importantly, why did it seem like I was always drawn to him? And, based on the fact that I had never seen him talk to anyone besides me, was it mutual?

I must have been staring at him as I thought, because all of a sudden his emerald eyes shot up to mine. I couldn't breathe.

I couldn't look away, but strangely I had no desire to do so. His eyes had always been his best feature, even with his new more muscular physique that some of the girls raved about. Okay, I raved, too, in the privacy of my own head. But it was so rare that I got to see his eyes, I didn't want to look away. So I stared.

Why had I agreed with my mother's stupid rule to stay away from him? It seems like a remarkably idiotic thing to have done now. He saved my life, and I gave up the opportunity to be his friend. That hardly seems fair. And I regretted it. Why had I put up with my family's overbearing act that now seemed geared solely towards keeping me away from him? I wonder if it was too late to do something different.

_Of course it isn't._

My eyes widened in shock. That was a _male_ voice in my head. Last time I checked, there should only be my voice in my head. Unless Tom was back. Oh, please don't let Tom be back!

_Silly Ginny. I got rid of Tom. He won't bother you again._

Bloody hell and Merlin's soggy underpants. That was _Harry_! How the freak was he in my head?

_Legilimency. I can teach you. Well, actually, I'm fairly confident you already know how._

I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open in shock and my expression resembled something vaguely like Mum's when Charlie told her he was leaving to work with dragons and wasn't coming back. And I was so bloody confused.

_I'm sorry; I didn't mean to confuse you. But I've been waiting a long time for this, and I just couldn't resist._

So I had no clue how to answer him, but he seemed content to respond to the thoughts in my head. So, dear Harry, please explain what is going on. Slowly, for those of us who aren't bloody geniuses.

_Well that's a matter of opinion, my dear; but, ignoring that, I'm talking about the fact that for the last three years you've been mostly complacent to accept your parents' beliefs about me and stay away. But today, today you accepted a different possibility, and vowed to do things differently. This I can work with._

Okay, so I realise I had recently come to a rather remarkable conclusion, but how did he know about that? Did he routinely poke around in my head? And _why? _

_Well, yes, I guess I do check on you fairly regularly. But usually only when you seem to be thinking about me. Or, at least, when you're looking at me. Which, admittedly, happens fairly often. And as for why, that is quite simply: I want you by my side, and I've been waiting for you._

…

_You're friends are starting to think you're suffering some kind of attack. Why don't we discuss this later? In person?_

I nod. I fairly certain that's all I'm capable of at the moment. I had no idea how he planned to meet with me. Of course, I only had one brother watching my every move now, but I'm sure the professors would tell Mum if they saw me with Harry. And I was still suspicious of the necklace which was permanently attached to my neck. I tugged on it out of reflex, and was still unable to take it off.

_Yes, it has several monitoring and tracking charms on it, along with a handful of others of a less than savoury nature. But I can help you get rid of it. And as to how I plan on meeting with you… go to bed early tonight._

This made little sense, but I nodded anyway. Then I squared my shoulders and turned from him. Ron was already sending me scathing looks, and Amanda was looking at me with disgust. She's Muggleborn and hates all Slytherins, which I thought was a bit unfair. After all, she hated that many purebloods hated her for being Muggleborn, and yet she hated them right back for being Slytherins. Hypocritical much? Why does it seem that prejudice only breeds more prejudice? I turned to my meal and ignored her. I wonder how early he'll be ready for me. I think I might fall sick right after class gets out this afternoon. And Harry, if you're still listening, I would greatly appreciate it if you wouldn't make me wait for long.

Bloody hell, I'm confused.

* * *

Ron must have been more worried about my odd behaviour at lunch then he let on, because he sent Hermione after me when I headed up to my room after class. It took some fancy evading to get her to believe that I was simply not feeling well and wanted to lie down. Once she left, I turned to my bed. I climbed in, pulled the curtains closed and added a privacy ward for good measure, and looked around. I had no idea how Harry planned to get into Gryffindor tower, let alone into my dorm room, but I would wait for him nonetheless. Not knowing how long I would be waiting, I pulled out a book and lay down to read.

It was then I saw the envelope with my name on it, resting on my pillow.

_Dearest Ginny,_

_First things first, we need to get rid of that necklace you are wearing before they use it to do something worse than simply keep track of you. I'm sure you've realised by now exactly how interfering certain individuals have been in your life. I am very sorry for this, as most of it is my fault. At least I can say that I complete sympathise, and that my interference was unintentional. I've left you alone for years because I didn't want to make things worse, as I'm sure any attempt on my part to be near you would have. In addition, it is only recently that things worked out so that I can help you, no matter which interfering parties are butting their noses in where they shouldn't. But I can now help you gain your freedom as I gained mine. It wasn't until my third year, when I found my godfather, that I truly became free. But I'll tell you about that later. Oh, and Sirius desperately wants to meet you. Anyway, I got side tracked. You have two choices about the necklace. You can destroy it, thus alerting your parents and certain meddlesome professors as to what happened. While this would undoubtedly be fun and somewhat freeing, you are not yet fully in control of your own person, so I wouldn't recommend this course yet. The other option is to be sneaky about it. You must forgive me for allowing my Slytherin side free reign, but given what we are trying to do I think it is justified. I do not think you partake in any of those prejudices that would be appalled by this. _

_Enclosed is an identical necklace, without any of the accompanying rather bothersome charms. I would recommend swapping them and carrying the other with you for all your normal activities. Maybe you could keep it in your school bag? Then everyone will be convinced that you aren't up to anything untoward. At least until we can devise a way to allow you more freedom. As to removing the necklace: I'm fairly well convinced you already know how to do this. Tom was rather brilliant, if amazingly disturbed. I imagine that you have been hesitant to explore the knowledge he left behind, particularly after the indoctrination your family has been putting you through for the last several years. While there are undoubtedly things he did you will find disturbing, much of his knowledge is remarkable. I would know. Don't be afraid to use his knowledge. You are not evil, and using spells that others are afraid of will not make you so._

I set the letter down, rather shocked. I had long since suspected that Harry was with Sirius Black. It made me happy to realise that he had someone around who seemed to care about him. I was rather alarmed by the allusions he made about not being in control of myself, as he seems to be saying it was worse than I even realized; I hope he has a way to fix that. Soon. I knew that I was only fifteen, but I didn't want to be under someone's thumb for another two years. And I was by no means offended by his underhanded suggestions. If only he knew how very _not_ anti-Slytherin I was. Actually, considering he seemed to have been reading my mind fairly regularly, perhaps he did know. It was slightly startling to me that I didn't mind the fact that he had been in my head so frequently. Though I was determined to have him teach me the way to keep anyone else from poking around in there. I'll have to ask him about that later.

But it was the second paragraph that got me thinking. He was encouraging me to use the knowledge Tom had left behind. I knew that several years ago I would never have done that, but things were different now. And I trusted Harry; in fact, he was really the only person I completely trusted anymore. Everyone else, even if they had the best of intentions, either was trying to control my life or was swayed by someone who was. Harry was different; he wouldn't have saved my life just to harm me now. And there was something else there, something I couldn't explain, that made it nearly impossible for me to think badly about him or distrust him.

After my experience in the Chamber my first year, Professor Dumbledore had given me several books on ways to block off unpleasant memories. Scared, frightened, and confused, I had worked diligently to block off not only my own experiences but most of Tom's memories; at least all the ones that weren't directly related to school work. I wonder if Dumbledore had suspected what had happened to me and was trying to prevent me from learning anything he considered dangerous. It certainly seemed like something he would do.

Clutching Harry's letter in my hand, I unlocked the wall in my mind for the first time in several years. Instead of pushing away from the rush of knowledge, I welcomed it. Certain things still disturbed me, and they were pushed back into the room they had come from, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much of what was there seemed useful. And Harry was right; I knew how to get the necklace off.

Once this was done, I returned to Harry's letter.

_Of course, the one I gave you comes with its own charms. Actually, many of them are similar, though I promise never to use them to invade your privacy. I'm just slightly paranoid that my becoming involved in your life will place you in even more danger, and I want a way to prevent any harm coming to you. In addition, I've turned the necklace into a permanent portkey. It will always bring you to me, and can be activated by saying 'diligo delecto'. I hope you forgive me the reference._

_I'll be waiting for you,_

_Harry_

Now, my Latin wasn't as good as Hermione's but I knew enough to piece together what that meant. Love to love. This just added further to the mysteries of my life, but I put it off for now. Harry was waiting for me. Grabbing my wand, I grasped the necklace around my neck. "Diligo delecto." The familiar pulling at my navel was instantaneous, and I braced myself for the landing. I didn't want to fall on my bum in front of Harry.

I didn't recognise the room I ended up in, but, based on the green coverings of the bed in front of me and the serpentine decorations, I ventured a guess that I was in the Slytherin dorms. It hardly seemed fair that they got their own individual rooms. But that was something to wonder about later. My attention was solely riveted on the boy sitting on the bed in front of me. He had a book open in his lap, and was dressed casually in jeans and a dark green shirt that tightly hugged his frame. His emerald eyes were staring back at me, a small smile playing on his mouth.

"Hello, Ginny," he whispered. He slowly unfolded his tall frame from the bed, and walked carefully towards me. He stopped barely inches away, his eyes boring into mine, sparkling with so much emotion it almost bowled me over.

I didn't answer verbally. Instead, I threw myself at him. I had a feeling he was expecting something like this, as he caught me with barely a stumble. My hands went immediately to his hair—_so soft_—and tried to pull his mouth down to mine. His hand came up and covered my mouth, stopping me.

I wilted. I had thought… it seemed like that was what he wanted. I guess I had been wrong. I dropped my hands from him, and stepped back. "Sorry," I whispered, refusing to meet his eyes.

His hands came up and gently cupped my face, softly but forcefully pulling me up to look at him. His expression was a strange mixture of pain, determination, and desperation. "Don't you dare apologise for _that_."

"But…"

"No. The only reason I stopped you is because you need to know what you are getting yourself into first. And afterwards… if you still want to… I'll pin you to my bed and snog you so hard you'll forget your own name."

I blushed, but didn't lower my gaze. "Okay." That sounded marvellous to me, and I couldn't imagine what would make me not want to kiss him.

He dropped his hands to mine, and pulled me gently to an armchair in the corner of the room. He sat down and pulled me into his lap, where I was more than happy to go. "I have a lot to tell you, Ginny, and much of it is going to be hard for me to get through, so bear with me." I nodded, turning slightly so that I could see his face. "Do you know what happened to me after my parents were killed?"

"Yes, you were sent to live with your Aunt's family."

"That's right. Do you know what they were like?"

I grimaced. "Not really, but I saw them that one time. They looked horrible. And they couldn't have taken very good care of you. You looked so much better after you got away from them."

He smiled gently. "Yes. I'm not going to tell you what it was like with them, just that I was miserable. I was abused, in more ways than one, and never knew anything of who I really was. I learned to be mostly self-sufficient while I was there, and I resolved never to trust anyone again. It was better to be alone than betrayed." I didn't try to stop the tears that were falling, and he carefully wiped them away with his thumb. The image of a small Harry sitting all alone, abandoned and hurt, made me want to wrap my arms around this Harry and comfort him. But I didn't know how he would take that, so I did nothing. "I know Dumbledore expected me to be sorted into Gryffindor, like my parents, and was severely disappointed when I ended up here. I know that he had grand plans for me, involving, among other things, your parents taking me in and Ron befriending me. They even had plans to push the two of us together from the beginning."

I nodded. "It seemed that way to me, until you were sorted."

"Yes. Dumbledore grew wary of me when I became a Slytherin without complaint and kept so much to myself." He went silent for a minute, concern on his face, and I knew what was coming. "When I went down and saved you, I think he thought that it meant I was coming around to his ideas for me. He failed to realise that I only went because it was _you_. He thought I was just being the hero, not realising my reasons were purely selfish. When I didn't show any signs afterwards of becoming the boy he had always wanted me to be, his concern grew."

I was confused. He was implying... but that made no sense. "But why me? You didn't know me at all."

He smiled. "I'll get to that. The summer after that was the worst of my life. Sirius escaped early on, and everyone thought he had escaped to kill me. Dumbledore didn't trust that I would stay out of trouble, and so he had a guard stationed at my Aunt's house." Harry grinned wryly, and I got the feeling he was more disgusted than humoured. "Of course, Uncle Vernon never did like having wizards around, and so he took his anger out on me." My eyes widened in horror. "I was largely used to this. The thing that made it worse, though, was that Dumbledore's guards saw it all and did nothing." I could feel my anger building, and Harry must have as well. He smiled sadly at me and placed a kiss on the top of my head. It seared through me like fire, making me wish he would hurry up and get to the snogging me senseless part. And afterwards maybe we could do something about our idiot Headmaster. "I know, love." My heart burned at his endearment. "But let me tell you the rest before you go seeking revenge, my Ginny." I nodded. My hand came up and caressed his chest, it provided solid proof that he was, in fact, okay. And I just liked to touch him. The way his hand flexed on my waist made me think he liked it when I touched him, too.

"You remember that night Sirius broke into the castle and sent it into an uproar?" I nodded. "I found him that night." My mouth dropped open in shock. I hadn't heard _that_. "And that was when everything changed. Sirius helped me from then on, and provided me another place to stay over the summers. And he's been helping me ever since." Harry gave me a large grin and excitement danced in his eyes. "Would you like to meet him?"

"Okay?" I was confused. Obviously, Harry had skipped a bit in his explanation, but I had no idea how Sirius Black could have been here helping him all this time. The entire wizarding world had been looking for him.

Harry looked up into a dark corner, where his large dog was curled up, seemingly asleep. "Sirius?"

I watched in shock as the dog looked up, then shook himself before turning into the man whose face had graced the paper more times than I could remember. Of course, he looked much healthier than any of the pictures the Prophet had, like he had been taking care of himself for awhile. And he looked much saner than I had been led to believe he would be. He walked gracefully towards us and beamed at me.

"Hello, Ginny. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I squeaked. I was still in shock.

Both of them chuckled, Harry's chest rumbling against my side. "Sorry for the scare." His eyes moved to Harry's. "I'll leave you alone, Nathair. You have things to discuss much more important than my desire to get to know your lady friend."

Harry grinned. "Thanks, Padfoot."

I watched as Sirius returned to his dog form and exited the room, his large paws easily turning the door handle; I imagine he had had a lot of practice. Then I turned back to Harry. "Nathair?"

Harry grinned. "It's what he's called me ever since I managed my own transformation."

It didn't surprise me that Harry was an animagus, given that he had been with Sirius for so long now. "It sounds Irish. What does it mean?"

"Snake."

My brows shot up. "Fitting."

"Very. But anyway, I have more to tell you." I sat silently, waiting for him to continue. "It's amazing the things you can find out in this castle when you can move around as a small snake. It didn't take me long to realise why Dumbledore was so concerned with me, as well as some other things." He took a breath before going on. "A prophecy was made, shortly before I was born, stating I was the only one capable of defeating Voldemort." I drew in a sharp breath. "Dumbledore is unaware that I know this. He doesn't feel he can trust me with the information, and is nervous about my motivations and methods." He grinned down at me. "He is right to be, as I don't intend to win this war using methods he would approve of."

"That explains a lot of things, but what about me? They have been actively keeping me away from you for years, and you said yourself you cared about me. You don't even know me."

"I know you far better than you think. I've been watching out for you for years, and I've been there for much of your life. You just didn't see me." A dozen memories surfaced, of times when I had escaped the confines of my bedroom and hidden myself away in the garden, and the lovely little snake I had made friends with. I gasped at the realization; he had been there all along.

"But why?"

"Because we were destined to be." I stared at him. Harry's hand came up and caressed the side of my face, and I turned into it, relishing the contact. "Do you not feel that? Always we have been drawn together. It took me awhile to discover the reason, however." I staid silent, waiting. "When Dumbledore told my parents about the prophecy, they both started planning. My Dad worked on the practical side of things, ensuring that there was a place where I would be safe if anything happened to them, a place where I could train, a place where no one could find me. Of course, I didn't learn this until Sirius came back, as Dumbledore had hidden my inheritance from me. But my Mum, she was concerned about something else. I think she knew that she had little time with me, and she was concerned that I would grow up unloved and uncared for. I do not know what method she used, but she discovered that we were linked, even before you were born. Your parents were informed of this, and together, a week after you were born, they entered into a magical betrothal contract."

I went rigged. A_ betrothal!_ I stared at him, shocked and confused. "Why didn't anyone tell me? There is no way out of a betrothal; didn't they think I had a right to know?"

He smiled sadly. "I think they were going to tell us when we got a little older, but they changed their minds when I stopped acting according to plan. However, they couldn't stop what had already been set in motion. We were drawn to each other constantly, and they were worried that I would corrupt you. They tried to keep us apart, in hopes, probably, that I would be killed fighting Voldemort and they would never have to give you up."

I was livid. I don't recall ever being so angry in my life. Not only had they kept me away from him, they had striven to separate us permanently, no matter the cost. _They had no right!_

"No, they didn't, my Ginny." He looked at me carefully before continuing. "Do you know what a betrothal entails?"

I thought carefully, trying to remember everything I knew. "Mum used to tell me bedtime stories about them, when I was a little girl. Maybe she was trying to prepare me. Anyway, I know that we must marry, and that when we do our joining will be different, stronger. Mum never told me what would happen."

"Yes. The marriage prescribed is one that joins not only our lives but our magic. I believe this is what worries them most. If we marry, you would share all my… unsavoury tendencies. Of course, they do not know that you've already been exposed to everything they fear." I shivered, not wanting to think about that right now. He smiled sadly and caressed my cheek. "But there is more. They kept us apart because they are worried that I will lay claim to you."

My mouth dropped open in shock. "Lay _claim_ to me? What do you mean?" I bristled slightly at the wording. I didn't mind being with Harry, in fact I had been wanting nothing more for most of my life, but I didn't like the way it sounded. It's like they thought he would take me against my will.

"Never, love. Never." He answered my unspoken thought, his eyes boring into my mine. "As the head of the House of Potter, I can demand the marriage be performed at any time after we both reach the age of fifteen. It is unusual, but possible. And that is why I could do nothing until now, my newly fifteen year old bride-to-be."

I stared at him. He was telling me that he could free me, that he could get me away from the oppression I had suffered under for years. This was all extremely appealing. However, it was completely overshadowed by another realization. I could be his, and he mine, in a way that no one could ever separate us. I didn't have to verbalise my thoughts. Tom had known enough Legilimency already for me to know that Harry was probably aware of my surface thoughts whenever I was near him. This was confirmed when his emerald eyes began to smoulder down at me.

Suddenly, I found it difficult to breath.

With deliberate and slow movements, Harry helped me gently to my feet, pushed me back a step and kneeled before me. He took my hands and looked up at me with so much emotion in his eyes I had to struggle to listen to what he was saying.

"Ginevra Weasley, I have loved you from the first moment I saw you, and I will continue to do so for all of my life and beyond. Marry me?"

I forced my mouth to work and breathed out my answer. "Yes."

He smiled brilliantly, and brought his right hand up, showing me a dazzling ring. It had three layers of stones running around the entire thing, diamonds in the centre and emeralds on the edges. Gently taking my left hand in his, he slid the ring on to my finger. I stared down at it, unable to articulate just how happy it made me to see it there. He slowly stood up, scooped me carefully into his arms, and carried me quickly to his bed. He placed me in the centre, and then crawled over me until our faces were level, his body still held above mine. His eyes were green fire, desire and determination and love and awe in their depths.

"I believe I promised to kiss you until you couldn't remember your name."

"You did." My breath was already ragged and he hadn't even touched me yet. I thought the anticipation might very well be the death of me.

"I better make good on that promise."

He slowly lowered his weight on to me, my breath releasing harshly at the pleasure. When I was deliciously smothered by him, his hands came up and traced every feature of my face. "I've been waiting so long for you."

"Then stop waiting and take me. I'm yours."

"Yes, you are," he nearly growled.

He lowered his head and claimed my mouth softly at first, hesitant. He seemed unsure of himself and my reaction to him. This was unacceptable to me. It was time he learned that I was as passionate as my red hair signified. My hands speared through his unruly hair and forced his mouth harshly onto mine, and I attacked him. With a deep moan that I felt more than heard, he returned my passion. His tongue explored every crevice of my mouth, as if he couldn't be satisfied until he knew it as well as his own. When it became absolutely imperative that I breathe, I pushed him back slightly, panting for oxygen. But Harry wouldn't leave me. His mouth travelled along my jaw, finding a spot right under my ear that made me cry out and clutch him closer to me.

My hands clawed at his back, desperate to feel more of him. They found the hem of his shirt and dragged it up as far as I could. With a growl, he pulled away from me and ripped it off, then returned his attentions to my neck. My hands explored the newly uncovered skin, amazed by the play of muscles across his back. He pushed against me as I touched him, his mouth moving lower on my neck and beginning to suck on my collarbone, pushing my shirt out of his way as he moved. Lost in the sensations he was creating in me, I grabbed his hand and tugged it down to my waist, using his hand to push up my own shirt.

Harry seemed to get the message quickly, sitting up on his knees above me and slowly lifting my shirt off of my body. I looked up, hesitant to see his expression, only to be shocked to see that his eyes were nearly black with desire.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered in awe.

I took hold of his face and pulled him back to me, gasping at the feeling of skin on skin. His mouth began a new assault on mine as his hands set to exploring my skin. Desperate to get closer, I hooked one of my legs around his hip and used it to pull him further into me. The friction was delicious for half a second before he froze. He held himself above me, panting but unmoving.

"Harry?" I asked hesitantly.

He pulled back enough to meet my gaze, his own full of apology. "We can't, Gin."

I pouted. "Why not?"

"Because a betrothal bride has to be pure on her wedding day."

"Oh."

He smiled ruefully. "If it weren't for the fact that I'm very much looking forward to that wedding day, I would saw screw it." He pulled back, reluctance on his face, and reached for my shirt.

I shook my head. "I want to feel you. I promise I'll stop attacking you."

He chuckled before rolling to my side and pulling me into his arms. I shivered at the contact.

"What are we going to do?"

He placed a tender kiss on my head. "I guess that is up to you. I'm willing to wait for you, and yet I don't want you to have to continue to go through the abuse of your family. But if we go through with this now, you have to be ready to accept the censure of the world and the school. I don't think many people in your house will understand. Either they'll hate you or they'll pity you."

I considered this. While I wasn't looking forward to the scrutiny that I'm sure would follow our marriage, I still desperately wanted to be his. But he did have a point. "Where would we stay? Would I come here with you?"

He shrugged. "That's an option, though I'm not sure how some of the members of my house would take you being here. I would want Sirius or I with you at all times, just to be sure. Of course, there is also a precedent for married students. We could ask for our own quarters, in neither Slytherin nor Gryffindor."

I pulled back enough to see his face. "I want to marry you." He beamed. "And I want to do it as soon as possible. As for what we do after that, I'm not sure. I wouldn't want to be away from you, though."

He leaned down and gave me a brief but exhilarating kiss. "You never have to be apart from me again. We will be married, and they will no longer have any control over your life." He paused in thought. "Do you want to inform anyone beforehand?"

I considered this. "I really would rather avoid that, but are we allowed to? I'm still under age."

He grinned. "They gave their permission when the betrothal was signed, they cannot revoke it now."

"Good. When can we be married?"

"Do you need time to get things ready? Don't girls like to have elaborate ceremonies?"

I giggled. "I don't want any of that. And that would only give my family opportunities to try and stop us. I want no one to know until it is too late."

"Marry me tonight?" His expression was hesitant and yet filled with hope, like a little boy who was convinced that the one thing in the world he wanted most was about to be denied him, and yet he couldn't give up thinking about it and wanting it.

"Of course."

He grinned and jumped up, hurrying to throw on his shirt. "I need to go get Sirius. I'll be right back."

With a last grin over his shoulder, he was out the door, leaving me on the bed in a puddle of lust and excitement and shock. After several moments, I realised I didn't want to greet Sirius in my bra, and scrambled towards my shirt. I pulled it on and used my wand to straighten out the wrinkles from Harry's hands. I went to his mirror and carefully fixed the mess in my hair. As I did, the light caught on the ring on my hand, and I paused. I was getting married tonight. Strangely, that didn't scare me. Rather, nothing had ever felt so right. Everyone had tried so hard to keep Harry and me apart; now that we were finally together I didn't want to wait any longer. And I knew my mother. She was going to try to fight this tooth and nail. It was better to get completely out from under her control before she tried anything. I turned as the door opened and Harry entered, followed closely by a large black dog that barrelled straight towards me and knocked me flat on my back in his exuberance.

"Padfoot!" Harry barked. "Get off of her!"

Sirius backed off in obvious contrition and Harry was by my side, helping me up. I laughed. "It's alright, Sirius. I'm excited, too." Sirius' tail thumped at my words.

The scowl on Harry's face twitched as he struggled to hold it.

"So, how are we doing this?"

Harry was quickly all business. "The first hurdle is getting off the grounds." He turned and went to his trunk, pulling out a silvery cloak. "This is my father's invisibility cloak, you can wear that. Sirius often roams the grounds at night as Padfoot, so no one should be surprised to see him. You can follow him. We know of a few ways off of the grounds."

"What about you?"

He grinned. "I was hoping you would carry me."

I was confused, but nodded anyway. I doubted there was anything I would ever deny him. "Okay."

With a smile, he started to shrink, and I understood. In half a second, a familiar small green and black snake was wrapping itself up my leg. I giggled as he crawled up further, and then slithered around my waist and under my shirt. I rolled my eyes as he climbed up until his head popped out of my shirt collar, ignoring the feel of his tongue flicking against my breasts as he passed. Impudent little whelp. With a sigh, I nodded at Sirius and threw the cloak over my shoulders. I knew about invisibility cloaks, but had never seen one before. It was rather disconcerting to not be able to see my own body, but I shrugged it off.

Quietly, I followed Sirius out of the castle and across the grounds. Harry seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, as he was now rubbing his head against my neck, his tongue flickering out occasionally. I let him have his fun. Besides, it was oddly erotic. Sirius led me towards the Whomping Willow, and, with a quick prod at one rather large knot on the trunk, the tree froze completely. In shock, I followed him through a long tunnel until we emerged in a dusty and dilapidated house. There, Sirius stopped and reverted to human form, and I lowered the hood on the cloak.

He grinned at me. "Welcome to the Shrieking Shack." Without waiting for a response, he offered his hand. "I'll take you to the Ministry."

I nodded, one hand coming up to secure Harry to me as I felt the familiar compressing feeling of side-along apparition. I had never enjoyed that sensation. We appeared in a dark corner of the Ministry atrium, and Sirius immediately saluted and disappeared once more. I would have to ask him later why he didn't want to be seen. The Ministry had acknowledged his innocence. Harry slowly crawled down my body and onto the floor before once more becoming the love of my life. He was leering at me. I merely rolled my eyes and drew the cloak the rest of the way off, folding it carefully so as hide its nature.

Harry took my hand and pulled me towards the desk occupied by a rather frail looking old man who looked up as we approached. "Name and purpose?" He asked lazily.

"Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, here to discuss the fulfilment of a magical contract."

The man's eyes went wide and made the familiar flick to the scar on Harry's forehead. That must get so annoying. Harry turned and shot a rueful smile at me. We were required to submit our wands to be checked, and then directed to go on. Harry led me towards the bank of elevators, and his arm slipped around my waist and drew me in closer to him. I went willingly.

I was grateful that we met no one on our journey, nervous that we would run into my father and he would try some way to stop us. I didn't pay much attention to our path, content to run my hands over Harry's chest and snuggle in closer to his side. He led me into a small office where a brunette sat, idly reading the paper. She looked up dismissively when we entered, and then did an instant double take when she recognised Harry.

"Can I help you?" She practically purred. I growled at her softly, and Harry tightened his grip on me.

"Yes. We'd like to be married."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. It was quite comical. "Married? But…"

Harry merely stared at her calmly. "Yes, married. You'll find that all the appropriate forms have been filed already."

"Um… okay… names, please?"

"I'm Harry Potter, and this is Ginevra Weasley." I had to suppress the urge to hit him for using my full name. I hated that name, but knew it was necessary in formal occasions.

She nodded numbly and pulled open a drawer to leaf through it. She squeaked when she found what she was looking for, and pulled out a piece of parchment covered in writing. "You are here to fulfil the terms of your betrothal?"

"Yes. As Head of the House of Potter I am demanding immediate fulfilment of all terms."

She squeaked again and ran into the office behind her. A few minutes later, she returned, followed by an odd, mousy looking man who was furiously reading the parchment. When he reached the end, he looked up at us. "You wish to be married? Tonight?"

"Yes." Harry answered calmly.

"You are aware that there will probably be severe… unpleasantness over your having forced the issue."

"Yes."

"Very well. If you would come with me."

We followed him into his small office, and stood together as he instructed us to. He had us join hands, right to right and left to left, and then he pulled his wand and began a long incantation in Latin. "Una vos adveho, pectus pectoris ut pectus pectoris. Una vos suo, vita ut vita. Una fio unus, veneficus ut veneficus. A matrimonium of verus mens effingo a diligo subsisto expertus of vicis. Nullus can tear in duos quis iam est unus."

As he spoke, a tendril of light escaped his wand and wrapped itself around our joined hands. At the end, instead of dissipating, it sunk into our hands, as if permanently binding us. And with it came an incredible sensation, one of belonging and home and desire and power all mixed together so tightly I couldn't really understand it. Harry was looking at me with the most intense expression I had ever seen on his face.

I barely registered as the officiant pronounced us man and wife. Then Harry's hands had let go of mine, and they were tangled in my hair, and he was kissing me as if he suddenly couldn't get enough. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled my body tightly against his.

It was the loud clearing of a throat that pulled us out of each other. We both pulled back and turned to the man, who was looking at us with a bemused expression on his face. "If you please, you need to sign some forms. In addition to your marriage certificate, you need to acknowledge the change of your status; you are both now considered legal adults with all the rights that entails."

I was slightly shocked to hear this; I hadn't realised that our marriage would free us not only from the control of my family but also from the Restriction of Underage Wizardry. That was an unexpected bonus. We signed the forms he had for us, and then thanked him quietly before leaving. Harry took my hand and led me out of the man's office, and as soon as the door was shut behind us I was pinned against the wall.

His hands wove carefully into my hair, anchoring my head in place as he placed kiss after kiss on my lips, none of them deep enough or long enough to satisfy me. "We don't have time for a real honeymoon right now, but I'm going to take you somewhere special for the night."

I hummed in approval. "That's nice. But first we should see about getting you a ring."

He chuckled. "Wanting to stake your claim on me, Mrs. Potter?"

I dragged his head down to me and assaulted his mouth for several long minutes before pulling back. "Do you doubt it?"

"No." He brought my left hand up to his lips and kissed it just above my ring. "Do you want a wedding band?"

I shook my head. "This is enough."

He nodded. "We should be on our way if we want to make it before all the stores close."

Harry stepped back from me, and I blushed crimson as I realised that the secretary was staring at us in shock, five feet away. It didn't seem to bother Harry, as he didn't even look in her direction before escorting me out of the office. We made it out of the Ministry without attracting any attention, and once in the atrium, Harry drew me into his arms.

"Now that I can't get in trouble for doing this, we don't need Sirius to transport us." And without another word he had apparated us away.

We reappeared in a dark alleyway. When we stepped into the street, I noticed we were right across from a large Muggle jewellery store and smiled. We walked in, hand in hand, and were immediately approached by a young sales woman.

Her eyes roamed over Harry with a slightly predatory look. "Can I help you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I need to purchase a wedding band for my husband."

Her eyes shot wide in shock as they darted between the two of us, obviously noting our age. Her smile grew fake. "Of course. Did you have any idea of what you were looking for?"

"Do you have any Celtic designs?" I had always been fascinated by their intricate knot work, and I figured Harry must be okay with it if he had an Irish nickname.

She led us over to a glass counter housing dozens of men's bands. Most of the Celtic designs were Claddagh rings, but there were a series of unusual rings, made of two intertwining circles. "What are those?"

"These are infinity bands."

I nodded and examined them carefully. One in particular drew my eye—in the centre of the ring, the two bands formed an intricate knot, a lover's knot. I pointed it out. "Do you like that one, Harry?"

He looked at it carefully and asked to try it on. He seemed to be considering it a great deal, and then his eyes shot up to mine.

_I like it. I think I can add just the right personal touch._

I smiled and turned back to the girl. "We'll take it."

She smiled her fake smile and quoted the price. I had no concept of how the cost of the ring translated to galleons, but it was obvious that she thought we wouldn't be able to afford it. Harry merely smiled and pulled out a black card and handed it to her. Her eyes went huge at the sight, and she fell all over herself to ring us up. I could only imagine that card somehow alerted her to Harry's wealth. Ron had treated me to several monologues on the subject, so I knew it must be fairly vast.

Ten minutes later we walked out of the store, and Harry pulled me back into the deserted alley. With a quick look around, he pulled out his wand and tapped it carefully against his ring. It flashed gold for a moment, and I leaned in to look. He had turned the two interweaving bands into snakes and given them small emerald flecks for eyes. I smiled.

"It's perfect."

"You don't mind your Slytherin husband showing his true colours?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Good." He reached down until his lips were brushing my ear. "Harry's Haven is located at Caernarfon Castle in Wales." (http : / / tejiendoelmundo . files . wordpress . com / 2009 / 05 / Caernarfon – castle . jpg)

My eyes shot wide as I recognised the secret he was telling me. It came as no surprise when he twisted us into nothing and we reappeared in front of a large castle on the water's edge. I looked around, curious, and the large an ancient structure. It looked almost as large as Hogwarts.

"This is my home, though Sirius and I only use a small portion of the actual castle. I am safe here and no one can find me. It gives Sirius and me a place to train as needed, and lets me be completely free. I think my Dad realized I would love flying as much as him, so there are grounds to fly over, and I love being right on the water."

I smiled. "It looks lovely. You can give me a tour tomorrow. I have plans for you tonight, Mr. Potter."

He grinned. "As you wish."

He swept me up into his arms and with a determined stride carried me into the castle, and then his bedroom. It was high time we finished what we had started earlier.

* * *

A/N: Well, a new story! This will be really short, only three chapters, and is already completely written. And no, I'm not going to always use first person. Next one is back in third, I promise.

I just really wanted to write a bit of Slytherin Harry. And boy is he fun to play with. As you can tell, this will be anti quite a lot of people.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up slightly groggy, not remembering where I was but recognizing instantly that I wasn't in my dorm room or my small room at the Burrow. I blinked in confusion, examining the strange furniture. It looked much nicer than anything I was used to.

"Morning."

I jumped and turned quickly, only to find Harry staring back at me with a twinkle in his green eyes. My mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh!" My eyes shot around the room once more, this time remembering where I was. And then I looked down and blushed scarlet. I quickly grabbed the sheets and pulled them up to my chin.

He chuckled. "Forget some things, did you?" I nodded dumbly. "It's okay. I had to pinch myself when I woke up to convince me that this was real." His hand came up and caressed my cheek. "I'm glad it was."

"Me, too," I squeaked. I just wasn't quite comfortable with the naked part yet. Though I didn't much mind him being naked. He was quite a lovely sight.

He grinned. "You realise we do have to get up, right?"

I pouted. "I don't want to."

He smirked at me. "Well, you might be able to persuade me to delay our departure for a little bit longer."

His eyes shot down and I followed them to realise the sheet was practically see-through and was barely covering much of anything, and I blushed again. Then I looked at him, sitting happily there in the all together, completely unembarrassed. That boy was too good looking for his own good. "I would love nothing more, but won't it just get worse the longer we stay away?"

His smirk was replaced instantly by a serious expression. "I was actually thinking about that. I don't know if we should go back at all."

Hm, I hadn't even considered that possibility. I must say, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the reactions we would expect back at school. "What do you mean?"

"Well, the only reason I've even stayed at Hogwarts this long was because of you. Now that I can take you with me, I see no reason to continue trying to get a useless education."

My heart fluttered at his confession. "But… we need to learn. We need to be able to protect ourselves and get by on our own."

He smirked. "And do you honestly think you are learning any of that at Hogwarts?"

"Well… not precisely…" Truthfully, I rarely learned anything new in my classes. The library, however, I would miss.

"I already know enough to pass all my NEWTS, and I can teach you, though I suspect you know a lot of it already. And Hogwarts is so closed minded about certain things; I can teach you so much more, and Sirius can help us." I was still hung up slightly on losing access to the library, and he must have known I would be, because he smiled softly. "Sirius and I have quite a selection of books here. I don't think you lack for anything."

I beamed. He was so thoughtful. "Are we… allowed to just not go back?"

"Of course. We became legal adults last night, so the Ministry and Dumbledore no longer have control over our actions. If you want, we can even sit the formal exams when we're ready, but there is no reason to return to school."

I thought about this. The idea of not having to put up with everyone at school, of not having to away from Harry during a long day of classes, of not having to deal with the temper I knew Ron would bring down on me as soon as he found out what I had done, of not having to deal with my _mother_, all of this was extremely pleasant. And I could be with Harry. The idea was looking more and more appealing.

"Okay."

He beamed at me, and then jumped out of bed, coming back seconds later with a stack of parchment and two quills. "It's probably best if we at least inform people of our intentions. You write your family and I'll write Dumbledore." He stopped and grinned. "And then, what do you say to a game of strip duelling?"

I laughed, swatted him across the arm, slipped on his shirt from last night as he currently seemed too distracted to write (his gaze was fixed determinedly on me instead of the parchment in his hand), and started my own letter.

_Dear Mother,_

_I don't know why you seem to have been so focused on controlling me for most of my life. I really have always tried to do what you wanted of me, until yesterday, and yet that never seemed enough for you. I have been alone for a very long time, despite being constantly surrounded by people, and I am heartily sick of it. It is time that I started making the decisions about things that affect my life, and decide what kind of person I will become. As far as I am concerned, this means one thing: no one will keep me away from Harry ever again._

_I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has already informed you of my disappearance. I've run away with Harry, Mum. Really, you shouldn't have tried to keep me away from him; you knew we were meant to be together, and had already given your permission. Do you know what happens to you if you go back on a betrothal contract? You should, as you were the one to tell me stories about it when I was a little girl, always stressing the dangers. I suppose you were worried that I wouldn't like Harry and would try to back out of it; you needn't have worried. I've been in love with Harry Potter since the moment I first saw him five years ago. As soon as he told me the truth, we took the steps necessary to insure that you couldn't separate us again._

_Due to various concerns, Harry and I will not be returning to school. Ever. Harry is more than qualified to teach me, and there are others willing to help. He'll make sure I know how to defend myself and show me how to be a valuable asset in this war. I know you know about Harry's role in the war; I'm just letting you know that I will be right beside him when he wins. And when we've won the war, Harry and I will start the rest of our life together. If you want to be a part of that life, you know how to act._

_I wish things could have been different. That you could have accepted me for who I am, and who I love. I wish you hadn't tried to keep us apart by whatever means necessary. I wish you weren't so prejudiced as to be unable to see past a label. Harry is a good man, despite his house placement. He had a horrible life, and this led to him hiding from most of the world; you shouldn't hate him for this. _

_Know that we love each other a great deal, and that Harry will take good care of me. He treats me as the princess you used to always tell me I was, and he would remake the world for me. In fact, he intends to. If you are concerned for my happiness, rest assured that it is in good hands._

_Give my love to Dad and the boys. I doubt they will understand why I had to do this, but that doesn't mean I don't still love them. I hope that they can find the happiness in life that I have._

_Your daughter, _

_Ginny Potter_

When I was finished with my letter, I took a peek at Harry's. It was much shorter.

_Dear Sir,_

_I feel it is my duty to inform you that I will be withdrawing, effective immediately, from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In addition, I have decided that it is in her best interest for Ginny Weasley to join me. _

_Incidentally, any future correspondence for her may be addressed to Ginevra Potter._

_Sincerely,_

_Harry Potter_

I took the letter from him, addressed it, and took it over to the waiting snowy owl. The same owl that had once delivered a birthday present to me; he truly had cared for me even then. I gave her both letters, caressing her briefly before taking her to the window and giving her a boost. Then I turned back to my husband.

"Teach me, love?"

He smirked and stalked towards me, his hands going to the bottom of his shirt that I wore. "In a bit."

* * *

It was several days later that Harry finally, in a fit of frustration, told me we were going to Diagon Alley to get me a wand that would actually produce results. I guess he took exception to the fact that I was handicapped by a wand that had not chosen me. My paranoid husband spent all morning making sure I knew the spells he had been teaching me that would allow me to protect myself, and renewed the charms on my necklace. He even tried to hide the fact that he had cast similar spells on my wedding ring. I merely rolled my eyes. When he was satisfied that we had taken every precaution, he wrapped his arms tightly around me and apparated us to the small courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron. He really needed to teach me to do that soon.

We walked the Alley quickly, Harry's hand wrapped tightly around mine and his wand clenched in his other fist. Our first stop was Gringotts, as Harry wanted me added to his vault, then he led me to Ollivander's.

The strange wandmaker looked up with twinkling eyes when we walked in. "Ah, Mrs. Potter. I presume you have come for your own wand?"

I nodded my head, rolling my eyes as Harry stationed himself by the door, his back ramrod straight and his eyes sweeping the street in front of us for any threat.

Ollivander nodded before disappearing into the back of his store. He returned some minutes later with two thin boxes. He carefully opened one and handed me a rather unusual wand. It was vibrant red. I liked it instantly.

"A rather odd wand," he murmured. "It is made of California red wood with the heartstring of a Nundu."

Harry's head whipped around in shock, and I stared at the wand. Hesitantly, I took it.

It felt like the entire shop was on fire, but as I looked more closely, the flames were burning nothing. I stared at them in awe.

Ollivander clapped his hands with glee. "Excellent. I thought this would be for you." He picked up the other box he had brought and opened it. He withdrew a black wand and offered to Harry. "This should, I believe, work for you, Mr. Potter. It is African Blackwood, and shares a core with that of your wife. I believe it will solve that little problem we discussed a year ago."

I looked between the two, curious. Harry's eyes shot up to mine. "My old wand shares a core with Voldemort's. It made them incapable of truly working against each other. It has caused… problems before."

I nodded. Slowly, Harry picked up the offered wand. The air crackled around us, and seemed charged with energy. Small lightning bolts erupted throughout the room. But my eyes were drawn to Harry. He was almost… glowing with power. It was intoxicating. I clenched my hands into fists at my side. I don't think he would appreciate me jumping him in public. His eyes met mine with a knowing look. Without looking away he spoke softly. "We'll take both wands, Sir. With our thanks."

I didn't really notice as Harry paid for the wands, but I assume that Ollivander made himself scarce, because Harry stalked to me and pulled me tightly against him. He kissed me roughly, possessively, and then growled against my lips, "Soon, my love." I merely whimpered in response.

Harry led me back down the Alley, as I was still in a daze. I pulled him to a stop in front of a rather familiar store front, though I had never been here before. I looked at it wistfully. He recognised my distress and stepped behind me, his arms circling me and holding me close.

"Do you want to go in?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. They probably hate me."

His hands rubbed soothing circles into my stomach. "I doubt that. They are both decent men. I even helped them with pranks a time or two, you know."

I turned my head. "Really?" There had been rumours, of course, but it was so hard to believe that Harry socialised with _anyone_ at school that I hadn't known whether to believe them. And Fred and George wouldn't breathe a word, though I pestered them relentlessly about it.

He nodded. "I don't think that they will judge you too harshly." He hesitated before continuing, "I don't want you to lose all of your family, Gin."

I took a deep breath before nodding. "Stay with me?"

"Of course."

Nervous, I stepped out of his arms and carefully opened the door. The store was what I would have expected, knowing my twin brothers as I did. It was loud and garish and marvellous. Just looking around I recognised a lot of the merchandise; I had helped them develop several items and was there for the testing of others, our usual subject being Ron. A girl a couple of years older than me, wearing horrible magenta robes with the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes logo on them, came up to us then.

"Can I help you find anything?" She asked pleasantly.

I opened my mouth, but couldn't bring myself to actually say anything. Harry came to my rescue. "Hello. We're here to see Fred and George."

She narrowed her eyes. "They're rather busy," she replied imperiously.

Her tone didn't faze Harry. He calmly said, "Tell them their investor is here to see them."

Her eyes went wide and she scurried away. I turned to look at Harry. He had a sheepish look on his face. "I may have forgotten to mention that Sirius and I gave them their start up money."

"Apparently," I said.

"Harry?" My head whipped around as Fred came barrelling out of the back. He stopped short at the sight of me. "Ginny?"

Just then George came out, his robes smoking slightly along the edges. "Fred! You can't just leave in the middle of…" he trailed off as he came to an abrupt halt beside Fred.

"Um, hi," I muttered lamely.

With a cry, they both leapt at me. I was afraid for a split second before they reached me and enveloped me in a tight three-way hug. I fought back a sob as I held them. After several minutes, they pulled back.

"The prodigal sister…"

"…finally returns…"

"…with a mysterious husband in tow."

I grinned at them and shrugged. "What can I say? I couldn't resist his animal magnetism."

I shot Harry a look and he merely shook his head and lifted the corner of his mouth in a slight smile. He was so much more reserved when we weren't alone. It was like I was married to two different men. It was a good thing I liked them both.

Fred and George each slung an arm around my shoulders and steered me towards the back room.

"Come back and take a load off."

"We want to hear all about your latest misadventures."

I laughed and followed them, happy to realise that, for some people, blood was enough to induce acceptance.

* * *

It was the third week of September when the expected response from my mother came. I was actually shocked it had taken her so long. Maybe she had been trying to legally dissolve our marriage. I shook my head at the thought. She should know better. During our talk with the twins, we had learned about the eruption that had occurred when she received my letter. Evidently, her scream shattered the glass in the entire bottom floor of the house, and scared the poor ghoul so badly it had decided to seek another place to live. (I don't think she was too upset about that part.) She had interrogated each of the family for hours trying to learn how I had even met up with Harry, and how long this had been going on. She had then flooed Dumbledore and started yelling at him through the fireplace. It was at this point that Fred and George had been able to sneak out of the house. They hadn't been back since.

I recognised the phoenix that brought her letter as belonging to Dumbledore. I would have to ask Harry, as maybe owls couldn't find us when we were hidden by a Fidelius Charm. That might explain why it had taken so long. To my surprise, the phoenix hung around as I listened to the Howler.

_GINEVRA WEASLEY! YOU WILL STOP THIS RIDICULOUSNESS RIGHT NOW! YOU WILL COME HOME IMMEDIATELY, IF I HAVE TO DRAG YOU KICKING AND SCREAMING MYSELF!_

_AND DON'T EXPECT TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY ANYTIME SOON, YOUNG LADY. YOU ARE GROUNDED UNTIL YOU'RE THIRTY!_

I snorted and with a flick of my wrist, silenced the Howler. "Harry!" I called.

"Yeah?" Came his muffled response from the other room.

"My mother sent her expected denial of our marriage. She demands I come home to be punished."

He chuckled as he walked into the room. His gaze narrowed as he saw the phoenix. "What is he still doing here?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

I watched dispassionately as the letter burst into flames. With an explosion of song, the phoenix leapt at me. I met Harry's startled expression for a split second before I was surrounded in flames. When they cleared, I recognised the familiar surroundings of Dumbledore's office. Facing me, wands drawn, was a room full of people. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were there, as well as Mum, Dad, Bill, and Charlie. There were also several people I didn't recognise. I blinked in shock.

Without warning, a spell was coming at me, and I reacted on instinct. Harry and Sirius had been drilling me mercilessly in the last few weeks, and my shield was up long before the spell reached me.

"Well, Mother, I expected at least a hello before I was attacked," I said dryly.

I wasn't really startled when there was a pop behind me. I knew Harry would be quick to follow. He stepped to my side and brushed his hand briefly across my back. "Are you all right, love?"

"Of course, dear. It seems my family wanted a word." I grinned cheekily up at him, noting the worry and fear in his eyes. He must have been terrified when I disappeared.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! Step away from that boy this instant!" Mum's face was an alarming shade of red. It clashed horribly with her hair.

I looked at her calmly. "It's Potter now, Mum."

She huffed in indignation and sparks shot out of her wand. "That farce of a marriage will never hold. You are underage."

"Actually," Harry began quietly. "You'll find that we have both been granted majority rights and that our marriage was completely legal. You yourself signed the papers on August 18 of 1981. Per Ministry Directive 1523, the Head of an ancient house may demand immediate fulfilment of the terms of any magical contract pertaining to one of the members of his house, as long as all participants have reached the age of fifteen years, unless otherwise stipulated in said contract."

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Harry, was it really necessary to run away? Could we not have come to a mutually agreeable compromise?"

Harry sneered at him. "A compromise? You? You have spent five years keeping us apart, despite the fact that you knew we were betrothed. You spent years lying to both of us in an effort to control us. Why should I compromise with you? If we had stayed, we would have been under your thumb and Ginny would have to put up with undue prejudice. I refuse to put her through that."

"But she's our daughter, Harry." My dad spoke up.

Harry turned a cold gaze on him. "A daughter that you wouldn't let out of your sight? A daughter that you lied to? A daughter that you routinely put compulsion charms on to keep away from me?" I drew in a startled gasp. He hadn't told me that. His gaze shot briefly to mine.

_I'm sorry, love. I didn't want to hurt you even more. I've removed them all._

I glared at him. _You will never keep something like that from me again, Potter._

He grinned. _Yes, dear._

I huffed, and turned back to my father. Charlie was looking at him in shock and horror.

"You did _what_? You told me Potter had kidnapped her. What is really going on here?"

Harry laughed. "Kidnapped her? Hardly. I told her the truth, and left the decision on what to do up to her. She wanted freedom, and I provided it."

Charlie huffed in anger and strode determinedly to my side, his arms crossed tightly across his chest. I smiled brilliantly at him. "I love you, Charlie."

He grinned briefly. "You, too, fire bug." He always was the one to jump to my defence. I had missed him these last few years while he was off chasing dragons.

"Well, this is all incredibly touching, but can we move on please?" Snape sneered. I rolled my eyes at him. He really was all talk, from the stories Harry had told me over the last few weeks. I wondered why he did it; he had to know that everyone despised him.

"Certainly, Professor Snape," Harry stated courteously. I guess he had it ingrained in him to be nice to Snape after all those years in his house. "If someone could explain why my wife was kidnapped today, perhaps we could resolve our issues."

"Wife," Mum sneered. "She is too young to be a wife. Especially yours."

"Nonetheless, it is true. As I'm sure you know. Bill Weasley is here, so I assume you already checked with the goblins. They granted her rights as my wife immediately." Harry turned his attention to a rather severe looking witch in the back. "And Madam Bones, your presence leads me to believe they have already tried the legal channels to get the marriage cancelled."

The witch gave a stiff nod. "Some of the… parties here refused to accept that there was little I could do. The marriage was completely legal, and is binding, assuming an annulment is too late."

I looked at her, confused. I felt Harry's eyes turn to me. "Love, I think they want to know if I've exercised my husbandly rights." I could hear the humour in his voice.

My eyes shot up to his, and I practically laughed at the suppressed glee there. "Oh!" I sidled up to him and slid my arms around his neck, pulling his head down for a heated kiss. I only kept him there for a moment, and then turned around to the outraged expressions on several faces. I pushed back against Harry, rubbing my body suggestively against his. He leaned down and growled in my ear. "Do you require further demonstration, or can you accept my word that I am now Harry's in every way imaginable?" I asked the room.

There was a quiet amused chuckle from the corner. It came from a raggedly dressed man that I recognised. I wondered idly what Professor Lupin was doing here.

"Potter men always did like their redheads." He rasped.

Harry's left hand slid around my waist and snuck under my shirt. "Could you resist her, Moony?"

The man's eyes shot wide. "How… what…"

I could feel Harry chuckling behind me. "Padfoot sends his regards. Now that Ginny is free, he might decide to stop by for a visit, as he no longer feels the need to spend all his time with me."

It took me a minute, but the nickname finally came to me. Lupin was another friend of Harry's father. I laughed. "Oh, Sirius will be so happy to get away from us! I think he is getting a little sick of being around newlyweds."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad's pained expression and Mum's furious one. Bill was enigmatic.

"So," Harry stated calmly. "Since we have established that our marriage is legal and binding, is there anything else we can help you with today?" I think I was the only one in the room who heard the hint of amusement in his voice.

"Yes, Harry, there is." Dumbledore stepped forward, his wand held carefully at his side. I stiffened. There was no way I could win against Dumbledore in a fight. I felt Harry shift slightly and his wand arm came up by my side, ready and waiting. "You need training and help, and protection. Voldemort will not leave you in peace."

Harry laughed. "Of course he won't! We have a prophecy to fulfil, after all." Dumbledore's face went white.

"You know?" I got the feeling this was Dumbledore's trump card, and he didn't really know what to do now that it had failed.

"Obviously. And don't worry. We are both well protected and our training is beyond anything you would offer. I will win the war against Tom Riddle, but I won't do it for you."

"And you won't tell me where you are hiding?"

"Hardly. In fact, I think I need to add a ward against flame travel. Wouldn't want you to try and steal my wife again."

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well."

We only had a split second warning. To their credit, only some of the people in the room attacked, but there were enough of them that it made it difficult to fight in such a confined space. To my great surprise, Charlie and Professor Lupin both fought with us.

The next few minutes were rather busy. Harry kept Dumbledore occupied, for which I was grateful. There was no way I could stand up to the Headmaster yet. Remus and I focused on the few Professors and the others that joined the fight, and Charlie planted himself firmly between me and the rest of our family. This had the added bonus of causing Dad and Bill to stop fighting for fear of hurting him. Little could deter Mum, however.

Finally fed up with a lot of the fighting, I threw caution to the wind and pulled out one of Tom's handmade spells. It caused the illusion of pain. Well, actually, it did a lot more than that. You could control who it went after, and how much pain they felt, or thought they felt, and you could use it on more than one person at a time, though it did require a rather large amount of power. This was the downside; if you used it, you were making yourself remarkably vulnerable. I knew that as soon as I released the spell I would be practically useless. I used enough to drive most everyone in the room to their knees, knowing that any more would leave me on the floor instead. The fact that the pain was only an illusion meant that it only gave us a few seconds before someone realised the truth, but Harry took advantage of this. A silver strand flew out of his wand and wrapped around most of the occupants of the room, binding them in place. I withdrew my spell and methodically began summoning wands, falling back to lean against Dumbledore's desk as I did. My strength was completely gone. Harry was placing a clever little charm on Dumbledore, as simply removing his wand would never be enough to stop him. When we were finished, I turned to Harry and threw myself into his arms.

He held me tightly, his anxiety revealing itself in the almost bruising hold. His head came down to bury itself in my hair. "I was so worried," he whispered against my ear. I felt his wand come up and could feel the energy he passed to me.

I held him tighter. "I love you. Thank you for being my hero again."

He placed a kiss on the side of my neck. "I will always come for you. Did you want to get out of here?"

I pulled back slightly. "I want to have some words with my family first."

He looked at me carefully, and nodded. "I'll just leave you alone to deal with that, then."

His eyes shot up to make sure my body would hide his intentions; he released a burst of sharp light from his wand, and performed a nearly instantaneous transformation. He was wrapped around my waist, hidden from view, before anyone blinked the light from their eyes. I turned back around as they focused on me in confusion.

Dumbledore was looking at me in complete astonishment, and I felt his gaze trying to pry into my mind. I glared at him and pushed him right out. He himself had given me the necessary background for Harry to have pronounced me the best Occlumen he had ever seen after only two short weeks of hard work. No one would be getting into my head without my permission. Dumbledore's jaw dropped open as I rebuffed him. I gave him a smug look in response.

I turned my attention to my family, doing a double take at the small smile on Snape's face as my gaze shifted past him. He seemed almost… proud of me. I walked over carefully, and flicked my wand. This talk would go much quicker if Mum couldn't speak. I focused on Bill first.

"Did they tell you the truth, Bill, or are you here under some misguided delusion?"

He looked at me in confusion before answering. "They told me you had run off with Potter, and that he was corrupting you." He looked around at the room full of captive people. "It seems they were right."

I laughed. "Oh, Harry didn't teach me that spell. Tom Riddle did." I heard a gasp of shock behind me. "When he possessed me years ago, he left many things behind. I won't use many of his spells, but this one has a use when you are up against so many opponents. And really, I didn't actually hurt you. As for the rest, I ran off with Harry because it was my destiny, as they were well aware." I turned and glared and Mum. "They gave me away years ago, signed a magical betrothal, and then failed to mention it and tried to keep us apart."

I turned back to Bill to see his eyes wide. "Betrothal?" He asked quietly. I don't know how he had missed this in the previous discussion, but he seemed to want confirmation.

"Yes. So next time you decide to attack your only sister, I suggest you have your facts straight first."

He looked ill, and I left him to his thoughts. Turning to my father, I saw the sadness in his eyes. "Is he treating you okay, Ginny?"

I smiled. "Of course. Harry treats me like a queen. I would have told you this, had you bothered to ask. He doesn't wish to keep me from my family, only to keep me safe. In fact, we spent a lovely afternoon with Fred and George two weeks ago."

Dad's face wilted. "I'm sorry, Ginny girl. I was just trying to protect you."

"You were protecting me from the wrong things, Dad. But I think I can learn to forgive you. I miss you, Daddy."

He lowered his eyes, completely defeated. I left him to his regrets and turned to my mother. She looked as if she were trying to break my silencing charm by sheer force of will. "But you, you are lost to me. Instead of letting me be myself and be happy, you tried to force your will on every aspect of my life. I will never be under your thumb again." I turned away from her.

"Professor Lupin, Charlie, I think it is probably best if you aren't here when they get free. Harry's spell should only last for a few more minutes."

Lupin looked at me carefully. "It seems you know where a mutual friend of ours is staying. Perhaps you would be good enough to take me to him?"

I grinned. "Of course. He'll be delighted." I turned to my brother. "Would you like to walk out with me?"

He nodded. "It seems we have many things to talk about."

I nodded and turned to nod goodbye to my father and Bill. I jumped in shock when a hand landed on my arm, and Harry reacted to this. His head came out of the collar of my shirt and he hissed in anger. I turned quickly to see it was Charlie, and that most everyone in the room was looking at me in horror. I shook my head. Stupid prejudices. I looked down at my husband and hissed, _"You just had to do that? Behave yourself." _

Harry's tongue came out and flicked against my throat. _"No one has the right to touch you."_

"_Of course. Now be a good little snake and get back inside my shirt."_

I wonder if it was possible for a snake to leer? It certainly looked like he did. I stifled a giggle as he lodged his head firmly in my bra. _"Pervert."_

I looked back up, not shocked at all to see a look of horror on most everyone's face. "What? How did you think I opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

Bill was staring at me. "But…" He shook his head, and then gave a resigned smile. "I guess it makes it easy for you and Harry to talk, huh?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, rather startled to know that he was aware of Harry's ability. "What makes you think we don't have other ways to communicate?"

Without waiting for a response, I walked out with Lupin on one side and Charlie on the other, and my husband amusing himself with my chest. Sometimes, he was such a teenager.

I was looking forward to getting home. I'm sure Harry already had plans to celebrate our reunion. And given how much I knew he must have worried when I disappeared right under his nose, they were sure to be thrilling.

* * *

It had taken nearly two months of solid work, but my form was finally down. Harry thought it was hilarious that I looked like a _male_ cardinal, but I ignored him. Really, did he think I wasn't going to turn out red, no matter what I was? And, besides, the fact that I could fly was useful. Especially the fact that I could fly while holding _him_. And I knew he liked me in red. A weakness I was always quite happy to exploit.

We landed in a dark forest, hurriedly transformed, and made our way quietly forward. I could hear them long before I saw them; they really were quite lax in security. Of course, that made it all the easier for us. This was the fifth raid we had been on this week alone. It was so much easier now that we had a quiet means of approach and escape. The invisibility cloak was useful, but sometimes quite cumbersome to use, and its sentimental value made both of us hesitant to place it between the spellfire and us. Harry was ecstatic that we were finally starting to thin Voldemort's forces, and we were both grateful for the combat training it was giving us. It had taken me a bit to come to terms with the fact that I had to kill them. It didn't bug me that they died; I just didn't want to do it _myself_. I know, I know, that makes absolutely no sense.

The first time I killed a Death Eater, it was to prevent him from killing Harry in the next moment. I stopped feeling bad about it after that. Really, morals like that had little place in the middle of a war. If someone was trying to kill me, I had no problem killing them first.

Of course, if we could subdue them without killing them, it was preferable. Then we could make sure they deserved their punishment before we gave it to them. Given my experiences gleamed from Tom, I was the better Legilimen, and so it was usually my job to determine if they deserved death. Those that didn't, we delivered bound and trussed up to the Ministry for them to punish. For the rest, we delivered corpses, as we weren't very confident that the Ministry would deal with them appropriately. The Prophet was having a field day over trying to figure out who the mysterious vigilantes were. Harry got a kick out of this. He didn't have a very good relationship with the press, and so the fact that they were lauding his illegal activity seemed hilarious to him.

I stayed hidden as Harry transformed once more and slithered forward. We had learned the hard way that while my form was small, its bright colour made spying difficult. So Harry went forward to learn how many there were, and if any of them were particularly skilled, before reporting back to me.

When he transformed back, he was sporting a feral grin that didn't bode well for our enemy. I looked at him in question. Legilimency allowed us to communicate in the battlefield completely silently, but it required eye contact now that both of us had strong shields up.

_Greyback is here._

My eyes went wide. Ever since Moony had joined us in our training, Harry had been anxious to get revenge for him. _Good._

_Yes. I've been working on a special spell for him._

_How many others are there?_

_Three. Two of them are werewolves._

I nodded. Silently, I slid my hands up his chest and around his neck, and then pulled him down for our customary good luck kiss. Who was I kidding? I would take any excuse to kiss him. I pulled away, smiling widely, and pulled out my wand.

It was time to go hunting.

The guard was easy. He wasn't expecting us, and while it was obvious he was a werewolf, it was equally obvious that he wasn't magical at all. He never even saw Harry's stunner. But this brought the attention of the other three. Greyback's eyes widened with glee when they landed on me, but Harry stepped neatly in front of me and drew his gaze. I knew he wanted to fight this one himself, so I engaged the other two.

It was always interesting to me how very much people underestimated me. I don't know if it was the fact that I was a girl, or that I looked young, or that I'm so small. But I had no problem using it to my advantage. The one on the right took a roundhouse kick to the head that disoriented him while I exchanged spells with the other. Apparently, Voldemort was pulling the dregs of society in to work for him, because this guy could barely fight. But he got me angry enough, by trying to send a Cruciatus at Harry, to put him out with a cutting curse instead of a stunner. He would live. For now. This allowed me to turn my full attention to the first guy, who was just now shaking off the cobwebs that my kick had caused.

He was good. He wasn't keeping me as busy as Greyback was keeping Harry, but he knew how to fight. I may have gotten a tad... angry when he sent a spell that singed my hair. He burned a good two inches off the bottom!

"You imbecile!" I screamed at him.

He sneered. "Pretty little girl got angry that I ruined her hair? Or did you break a nail, sweetheart?"

"Oh! That's a good idea. Thanks!"

I giggled, and he looked so confused he faltered and enabled me to slip a spell past his guard. I left him screaming on the ground behind a silencing charm and relieved him of his wand. He was having difficulty holding on to it, owing to the fact that his nails were forcibly removing themselves from his body. Then I folded my arms and leaned against the nearest tree to watch my husband in action. It was quite a sight to see.

He was trading spells with Greyback, clearly playing with him. I think he was trying to see how many hits he could get in before the werewolf went down. This was a considerably longer endeavour than it would have been with anyone else, since werewolves had significantly more endurance and strength. Harry didn't look the least bit perturbed by this. It meant he could play longer. I didn't mind either; Harry and I always rather _enjoyed_ our nights after he had an extended fight. It tended to get his blood going, and I was always happy to help relieve some of his excitement.

Who was I kidding? I didn't always even wait until we reached home before I jumped him.

"You know, Greyback," Harry was speaking casually despite the number of spells he was slinging. "I've been meaning to discuss something with you."

"Well now seems like the perfect time."

Harry smirked. "I couldn't agree more. You see, you seem to have made a habit of attacking small children. Small, defenceless children." Harry paused to raise a shield to block a spell he couldn't dodge. "I'm afraid I may take offense to that."

"And what is a little boy like you gonna do about that?"

I had to repress the sigh as Harry's eyes went flint hard, but I just loved that look in his eyes so much. And that cocky grin he had made me very glad for the show. I shifted against the tree, suddenly anxious for the fight to be over with so that we could get to the after celebration.

"I've been saving a little something for you, Greyback."

The spell was florescent blue in colour, and its effects were rather interesting in nature. I was quite curious to learn how Harry had managed to come up with this spell, for it seemed to be inducing a repetitive cycle of the painful werewolf transformation. I watched curiously for several rounds.

"Can you adapt that to stop the transformation completely?"

Harry slid his hand around my waist as we watched. "Not quite, but Remus and I think we can use it to force him back to human form early. He'll still have to go through the transformation, but not spend all night like that. But at least it should save him some pain and suffering each month and prevent any unwanted... accidents."

I grinned. "Excellent." Tired of watching the show, I turned and slid my hands around Harry's neck, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. I smiled up at him. "That was sexy."

His hands went flat against my back and pulled me tightly against him. "I'm glad to oblige."

I pulled his head down to mine and attacked his mouth. We needed to take in the Death Eaters, but that could wait. This was a much more pleasant diversion. Harry spun us and pushed me harshly up against the tree. A shiver went down my spine; I loved it when he was rough with me.

* * *

Holding Harry's hand, I was walking happily down a rather quaint Muggle street. It was always easier to hold our meetings in the Muggle world, as anything magical stood out like a Cannon's fan at a Harpies game. I had been keeping in fairly regular touch with Charlie and the twins, and today all three of them were meeting us once more at a little pub that Harry quite liked the feel of. Personally, I think he just liked it because it was dark enough for him to hide in the corner and didn't have any windows for him to have to watch. He was a paranoid kid, that's for sure. Course, with the life he had led, it only made sense that he would be. We entered the pub and froze.

There were four men waiting for us instead of the expected three.

Harry took half a step in front of me, and his hand disappeared into his coat pocket where I knew it was clenched tightly around his wand.

Our unexpected visitor stood up slowly, his hands visible and open as he walked carefully forward.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" He didn't look like he wanted to attack us, but one can never be too sure. Harry had rubbed off on me in more ways than one.

Dad smiled sadly. "I missed my baby girl."

I smiled back. He looked genuine, and his surface thoughts weren't telling me anything different. But Harry was still a tense and solid presence in front of me. I put my hand on his side and lightly tried to push him aside. He didn't budge.

"Harry." This had no effect on him. He wouldn't even turn his head for me to make eye contact. So I resorted to the next best thing. _"He's not here to hurt us, love."_ I hissed at him.

"_You don't know that."_

"_Yes, I do. He's my father. Besides, don't you think I've searched his thoughts while we were standing here? He means us no harm."_

For nearly a minute, Harry maintained his post, and then he relaxed slightly and stepped back to my side. I slipped my hand into his, trying to calm him down further, and led him forward to the seats saved for us. My brothers were well aware of Harry's paranoid proclivities by now, and had saved us the two seats in the corner.

"What can I do for you, Dad?"

Dad sagged into his seat and buried his face in his hands. His voice was strangled when he finally spoke. "I've made my only daughter afraid of me, and nearly lost her. I just want you back."

"And there are no tricks?" Harry asked. "No caveats? No surprises you're waiting to spring on us as soon as our guard is down?"

Dad looked up with watery eyes and met Harry's gaze head on. I was rather impressed. That could be hard to do. "No. I just wanted to see my little girl."

Harry stared at him for an uncomfortably long amount of time before giving a stiff nod and pushing back to his customary place against the wall. His wand was out under the table, at the ready, and his left hand was resting on the small of my back. He liked to keep a hand on me, he had explained, just to remind himself that I was there. I didn't mind. His touch always sent pleasant shivers through my body.

I smiled briefly at my husband and turned to my father. "It's good to see you, Daddy. How have you been?"

Some of the sadness retreated from his eyes at the familiar name. "We've been surviving. Your mother and I have been moved to a secure location. She likes this, as it gives her a wonderful excuse to take care of so many people, but she very much wants to return home. She misses the Burrow."

I didn't acknowledge this statement. Technically, I already knew. The twins had alerted us that this was happening, and Harry and I were both there when Dumbledore moved them. We thought it might be useful to be able to access the Order Headquarters, and to do so we needed to know the secret. This was accomplished by eavesdropping on the conversation from the top corner of the largest cupboard in the kitchen.

Dad seemed confused by my lack of response, but went on. "Bill has some exciting news, though. He's engaged to a lovely young witch named Fleur. They plan to get married this summer; I do hope you and Harry can join us."

Harry chuckled by my side. "Thank you, sir. Fleur already invited us."

Dad looked at him in shock. "You know Fleur?"

"Of course. We were in the Triwizard Tournament together. I helped her out with some nasty trouble with Grindylows in the Second Task."

Dad looked shocked to hear this, but let it slide. I turned to Harry and grinned. "Just don't get any ideas about my part-Veela soon to be sister, Potter."

He smirked. "Wouldn't dream of it, dear."

Fred chuckled until I shot him a glare.

"How are Ron and Percy?" I asked quietly.

Dad stiffened a bit in his seat. "Percy has... decided it is best if he is not associated with the family for the moment."

I cocked my head, curious. "What do you mean?"

"He claims that we are being subversive by following Dumbledore instead of the Ministry, among other things. He told me rather emphatically that only by following the Ministry can we accomplish anything."

I snorted. "Is he serious? The Ministry has done nothing. They can barely even hold on to the prisoners that we gift wrap for them, let alone find anyone on their own."

Dad's eyes tensed. "Yes, I've seen your handiwork. Is it really necessary for you to put yourself in so much danger, Ginny?"

I shrugged. "No one else was doing anything, and someone has to."

"But you could be hurt."

"I won't allow that to happen, Mr. Weasley." Harry spoke with quiet determination, despite his quiet tone. This was the most I'd ever heard him speak in public, though, and I was impressed. "Ginny will always be protected."

Dad sagged again. "Thank you, Harry. That relieves some of my worries. But I'm sure you can understand that I am still concerned."

Harry nodded his acknowledgement of this, but said nothing else. Really, there wasn't much he could say. He knew that there was no way to prevent me fighting with him. We had already had this argument, and I had won.

I decided to redirect the conversation. "And Ron?"

Dad looked at me with sad eyes. "I'm sure you can guess what he thinks. He isn't particularly _happy_ about the fact that we apparently sold you to... what was it he said? Oh, yes, _that no good dirty snake_."

Harry chuckled. It was so much more amusing to hear these references when you knew that he actually _was_ a snake.

"Really, I was sold?" I turned to Harry. "Love, we must have forgotten to pay the bride price."

He grinned. "Don't worry, Gin. I'll take care of it."

With a casual wave of his wand under the table, he conjured a rather intricate looking thing that I had no clue what it was. With a flourish, he presented it to Dad.

"It's an electric model airplane. You build it yourself, and then it will fly in the same way the real ones do." I was impressed. Harry must have been really paying attention the few times he had gotten me to talk about my family. Dad was obsessed with Muggle airplanes.

Dad's eyes went wide with glee as he looked at it. "Really? Oh, this is fabulous!"

I laughed softly. Dad was so easily satisfied, but I loved him for his simplicity. "I'm glad you're here, Daddy."

He looked up sharply. "Me, too, Ginny girl. Me, too."

* * *

My eyes shot wide in surprise, then met Harry's. _We need to keep this one alive._

Harry looked confused. _There is no way that Rookwood doesn't deserve death._

_That wasn't what I said. We need to keep him alive for what he knows, not what he's done._

_Oh?_

_He was the one who developed the spell that Voldemort uses to protect himself, the spell that caused him not to die when he first attacked you._

Harry was instantly in front of me. _Does he know how to remove it?_

_No._

Harry deflated before my eyes.

_But I was able to read something interesting before he threw me out._

_He threw you out? He must be good._

_That's beside the point. It isn't a spell, it is a ward. And it only keeps him from death if he is within range of it._

_What's the range?_

_I don't know. He threw me out before I could get a good read on it._

_Hence the taking him with us._

_Correct._

_And then we'll only need to figure out how to get Voldemort outside of his safe house when he isn't expecting it and so doesn't set the ward over a new location._

* * *

A/N: Wow, I was blown away by the response to this story. This is the (slightly shorter) second installment. Before you start complaining that they would never act like that, remember that this is very different. Meaning, Harry has no qualms about killing Death Eaters, and using magic that probably wouldn't be considered Light magic. They are not, however, Dark.

Let me know what you think. Next and last installment will be out in a week.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Christmas rolled around, Harry and I had nearly decimated Voldemort's forces. He still had a rather large amount of incompetent idiots, as he was constantly recruiting those, but his best fighters had been systematically hunted and destroyed. It took us several days to drain Rookwood, and required the use of Veritaserum, and then we put the fool out of his misery and sent him on his way. We found Lucius Malfoy the last week of November, and I had a bit of fun seeing how loud I could make him scream. This was the man responsible for all the horrors of my first year; I felt no pity for him. Eventually, we ended his miserable existence, but not before I made him write his farewell in his own blood. Tom had made me do the same, so I thought it was only fair. In early December, we came across a little cell of Death Eaters that worked in the Ministry. After spying on them for a solid two days to see how much we could learn, Harry gleefully watched as Umbridge wrote out her confession using a blood quill. I was very glad that last school year I had been so preoccupied with my own problems that I never crossed her. Harry wasn't the only one who had been forced to serve her evil detentions, though he was the only one punished simply for existing. The week before Christmas, we found Bellatrix Lestrange. When Harry told me the story of what she had done to Neville's parents, I insisted that a photograph of her body be delivered to Longbottom manner with a lovely Christmas card.

I hope Neville liked his Christmas present.

Harry and I had a rather large argument about the holiday. I was fairly well content to sit in our home with Sirius and Remus, but Harry insisted that we spend it with my family. I pointed out that there was no way for that to happen, as half of my family would most likely curse us on sight. He just smiled and said he would work it out. Eventually giving up on figuring out what he was up to, I simply rolled my eyes and left him to it.

I woke up Christmas morning alone, something I was never happy about. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, peering around for my husband. I had started hunting around for him when he popped into existence at my side, beaming. I raised an eyebrow in question.

"You look entirely too pleased with yourself."

He ignored this. "Get dressed. We have to go soon."

I shook my head at him, but did as he asked. The last time he had gotten some crazy harebrained idea in his head and I refused to do as he asked he simply dressed me himself and dragged me along. I figured it was easier to simply comply. At times like this, it seemed like the child he had never gotten to be came out for a bit of fun, and I hated to quash his enthusiasm and joy. I dressed quickly, and threw on my dragonhide coat for good measure. I had a feeling we were going to the Burrow, and figured I could use the extra protection. Then, with wand in hand, I returned to his side. He had shrunk a rather large pile of presents and was carefully putting them in his pocket. When he finished he looked up at me with a smile. "Ready?"

I nodded and placed my hand in his outstretched one. With a pop, we were gone.

We were in the front room of my childhood home, and Dad was sitting on the couch, beaming at us. I went to hug him, but stopped when Harry placed a restraining hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him curiously.

"I'm fully aware that certain individuals are likely to try something with us here. We're inside a heavily warded portion of the room, and it is probably best to remain here."

I looked carefully at our location. With a casual flick of my wand I could see the wards that surrounded us. There were more layers than I could make out easily. I nodded and smiled at my father instead.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy."

He beamed. "I'm glad you were able to make it. Happy Christmas."

My gaze flickered to where Harry was enlarging the packages he had brought. With a hasty look around, he slipped out of the ward for a minute to place them in a large pile in front of my father. He shook hands with Dad quickly, and then stepped back. I pushed him down into the large armchair in our corner and happily curled up on his lap.

"Does everyone else know we are going to be here?"

Dad's smile faltered briefly. "No. Charlie and the twins know, but I thought it was best if I not tell the others."

I nodded my understanding. "Is everyone going to be here?"

"Percy we haven't heard from in awhile, but everyone else should be. Bill is bringing his fiancée, and Hermione and Neville are staying with us for the holiday."

I grinned. It would be nice to see them. Despite our many differences of opinion, Hermione was the closest female friend I had. I was also excited to see Neville. I looked up at Harry.

_Do you think Neville knows it was us?_

He shrugged. _It's possible. It wouldn't be a huge leap of logic. And very few people know what happened to his parents and would have cared to let him know._

_Do you think he'll say something?_

_I don't know. You know him much better than I do._

I nodded my acceptance of this and turned back around. It was only a few seconds later when a loud explosion announced the arrival of Fred and George. They bounced into the room, grinning ear to ear.

"Ginny!"

"Harry!"

"It's so absolutely spiffing to see you!"

I giggled at them. "Hello Fred, George. Merry Christmas."

Their eyes narrowed at us. "What is this? So afraid of what we'll do to you that you have to hide behind a ward?"

I giggled. "Blame my overprotective husband."

I looked up in just enough time to see Harry roll his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He had retreated into his silent public persona. It saddened me that my family's behaviour made it so he wasn't comfortable being himself here. Not that I had been myself in this house for last several years, but, you know, it was the principal of the matter.

Bill was the next one down, with his arm wrapped around a lovely blonde that I remembered from the Tournament. Bill scowled at us, but didn't say anything. The girl, however, beamed when she saw us.

"'Arry! It is lovely to see you again!"

"Hello, Fleur," he said quietly. "How have you been?"

"Oh, 'onderful! 'E 'ave been planning our 'edding. You 'ill be there, of course."

Harry nodded. "Wouldn't miss it."

Bill must have tensed at this, because Fleur turned around and hit him across the chest. "Be'ave Bill 'Easley! 'Arry is my friend and your brother-een-law. 'E deserves your civility."

Fred and George snickered at the contrite look on Bill's face, and then their expressions went blank as Mum stepped into the room. Her eyes widened as they landed on me, and her hand tensed towards her wand before relaxing slightly as her eyes shot briefly over to Dad.

"Ginevra." She greeted stiffly.

"Hello, Mother."

"So you have decided to be a part of our family again, have you?"

"Actually, Dad invited us for Christmas and Harry wouldn't hear of us missing it. He says family should always be together on holidays."

She glared at me, but before she could say anymore there was a loud commotion as the room suddenly filled up. Neville and Ron were in the lead, chatting happily until they spotted us. Ron turned red, and Neville stared at us with a strange expression on his face. Hermione was right behind them, her face carefully neutral. Charlie bounced in not two seconds later, grinning when he saw me.

"Ginny! You guys made it!"

"Hello, Charlie. It is good to see you again. Merry Christmas."

Charlie bounced over with his arms opening for a hug, but he stopped when Harry raised a hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Charlie."

Charlie came to an abrupt halt and looked at him curiously. Instead of answering, Harry flicked his wand and the wards shimmered into view for a brief second. Charlie shrugged and sat down beside Dad instead.

Hermione was looking at us curiously. "Did you do the wards yourself? They looked complicated."

I shrugged. "Harry did them. We were... worried after our last visit with the family."

The twins snickered and Charlie hung his head. Hermione looked confused and surprised. "Oh." She shook her head before offering a tentative smile. "It's good to see you, Ginny. How have you been?"

"Fairly good. We've been keeping busy, but I've certainly enjoyed myself."

I turned to Harry and cupped his cheek with a loving smile. His eyes blazed down at me in return. I don't think anyone missed my allusion, as there were several loud clearing of throats. I turned back around and smiled.

"Harry?" My eyes shot over to Neville, who was staring at Harry over my shoulder. "Thank you."

Harry offered a small smile. "Of course. Everyone deserves justice, Neville."

Neville nodded and I beamed at him. I'm glad he understood our gesture. Ron turned to his friend in confusion and anger. "What are you talking about, mate? And why would you thank _Potter_?" He spit the name like a curse word, and I growled softly. That was _my _name now, too. Harry's hand came up to rub soothing circles on my stomach.

Neville looked at Ron with a carefully guarded expression. "Harry and Ginny sent me an early Christmas present last week."

"Why would _he_ send you a present?"

"Because he knows what it is like to grow up without your parents in your life."

Ron stared at Neville before gritting his teeth and turning away. He walked stiffly over to the couch and sat down next to George. "Well, are we going to open presents?" He finally demanded.

The family sat down awkwardly around us, Mum studiously putting her back to us, as if that would mean we weren't really there. And we largely obliged her sensibilities. Harry wasn't going to talk unless he had to, and I was content to sit quietly in his arms. It was obvious that most everyone wasn't expecting us, as there weren't presents waiting for us. Or maybe they wouldn't have had anything for us even if they knew we were coming. You never knew.

Charlie was the first to offer us a present, offering me a smile and setting it just outside our ward. The twins were next, and I eyed their present carefully. I wasn't entirely sure they wouldn't try to pull something on us, but was fairly confident that we could handle it without turning into some unusual creature or having body parts dyed. I sat still in Harry's arms, knowing it would be better to retrieve our presents all at once at the end, and watched as Dad quietly passed ours out for us. Ron stared at it and refused to even touch it. Bill eyed his hesitantly, but picked it up when Fleur shot him a glare. He opened it and tried to be discrete about tapping his wand on it several times as he did. I rolled my eyes.

"Satisfied I'm not trying to kill you, Bill?"

His eyes shot up to mine and he had the grace to look sheepish. "Old habits die hard, Ginny. I don't necessarily trust your husband there."

"You don't know my husband."

"Touché," he acknowledged. He opened the box and drew in a startled gasp. "Ginny? Is this real?"

I shrugged. "Depends what you think it is. If you think it is the marriage crest of Hor-Aha, Pharaoh of the First Dynasty, then yes, it is."

"Merlin! How did you get this?"

I grinned. "Harry has connections." Bill didn't need to know that we took it as collateral damage when we raided Malfoy Manor. And Malfoy wouldn't be coming looking for it.

Bill's eyes shot up to me, huge with shock. "Ginny, this is priceless."

"I know."

Bill's attention moved just over my shoulder to Harry. "Thank you," he whispered. I could feel Harry nod against my shoulder in acknowledgment.

The twins must have felt that the mood was too serious, because they hastily tore into their own packages. They looked confused at the contents: several small Muggle pill containers. That was, until they found the small piece of parchment at the bottom that detailed what each of the pills did. Then they went dead silent. It was hilarious. After a few moments, they both looked up with identical looks of glee.

I smirked. "They come with Padfoot and Moony's blessing."

The twins' eyes went wide with shock. "You know the Marauders?"

"Of course. Harry here is second generation."

I laughed as Fred and George fell to the floor, bowing and chanting, "We are not worthy!" Those two crack me up.

Curiosity obvious in his eyes, Charlie tore into his own present. He looked at it in confusion before finally admitting defeat. "What is it?"

"Dragons and Snitches. Evidently it's a Russian game. There's a spell that will enlarge all the parts, and instructions included. It's a rather more _intense_ game than Quidditch, what with the artificial dragons that try and chase after you, but I think you'll like it."

We completely lost Charlie after that, as he had pulled out the miniature dragon models and was examining them carefully for accuracy. Every once in awhile he mumbled something under his breath about idiots who had never seen a real dragon, but he still didn't remove the beaming smile from his face. I think he liked his present. I wish I would be there to play it with him. It sounded amazing.

While Charlie was playing with his dragons, I turned my attention to Dad. I knew Mum probably would refuse to open anything we got her, so Harry and I had decided to just give both gifts to Dad. The first box he opened contained a miniature model of the Burrow. The detail was fabulous, and Dad stared at it in excitement. But that wasn't the real present.

"It's not just for show," I spoke quietly. Dad looked up at me curiously. "It's an advanced map, there's a model of everyone in the Burrow at all times. Hopefully it will help you be able to move back home for good, instead of just a visit."

"There's more," Harry started, and I turned in shock. I didn't know about more. "If you would poor a drop of your blood on that rune in the front, it will activate several extra wards."

"Wards?" Bill asked, his attention immediately fixed on Harry.

"Blood wards. No one but a Weasley will be allowed access. It's a bit extreme, but I figure social visits can wait until after the war is over, or be done at another location."

Dad gave a feint nod, and pulled his wand.

"Wait!" Bill called. "Harry isn't a Weasley." I smiled; at least he was showing concern.

"Sure I am. My magic and Ginny's has blended, and so I am now half Weasley. It is enough. However, I would still wait. There are other guests here."

Dad smiled. "I'll do that later tonight." Dad looked straight at Harry. "Thank you, son." Mum flinched. "You've made our family safe." Dad picked up the second gift. "You really didn't need to get me anything more."

"Believe me, Dad, you'll want this." I answered for my silent husband.

He shrugged and opened the envelope. He read it in confusion, before exclaiming, "Bloody hell!"

"Arthur!" Mum bit out.

He flinched. "Sorry, dear." He looked back at me. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Private lessons on a Muggle airplane. They start next week."

"Yes!"

I laughed happily as Dad jumped up and started dancing around. He picked Mum up and spun her around in excitement. She had a hard time hiding her smile. Of course, she made her displeasure at me known as soon as he set her down. She went to the large pile of lumpy packages in front of the fire and started passing them out. The Weasley jumpers.

She didn't have one for me.

I had been expecting this, and so I was able to keep my face in a careful neutral expression. But I could not hide my distress from Harry. He tightened his arms around my waist and leaned up slightly to hiss in my ear. _"She'll come around eventually, love. It will be okay."_ I didn't believe that she actually would, but I was determined to not let her ruin this for me.

Dad must have been more observant than I thought, for he looked up at me with a sad look in his eyes. Deliberately, he got up and walked over to our corner. He pulled a small wrapped box out of his pocket and set it on the pile waiting for us.

"Dad?" He had never given his own presents before. He always let Mum choose the gifts.

"My little girl deserves a present at Christmas."

He missed Mum's glare as he went back to his seat and I cringed. She was going to tear into him as soon as they were alone, I had no doubt. Standing up, I walked carefully forward and picked up the presents, then brought them back. I let Harry open the gift from Fred and George while I opened Charlie's.

Charlie had given us matching arm cuffs with an elaborate dragon made out of leather. They were beautiful. When I examined it closely, there was a small hole near the top. On a whim, I took out my wand and stuck it down the hole. Despite the fact that the cuff was no more than two inches wide, my entire wand disappeared inside. I beamed up at him. "Thank you, Charlie. These are wonderful."

I handed Harry his and looked at the various things he was examining. It looked like the twins had given him an entire set of their Defence line. Some of those things looked remarkably useful. When Harry looked up, I helped him tie the cuff on his left arm. I smiled sadly when he ran his wand over both of them. But I couldn't fault him. My husband was paranoid for a reason.

Dad's gift was small, and when I opened it I found a velvet blue box. This made me curious, as it looked like jewellery. But I had no idea how Dad could have afforded to buy me something like that. I opened the box and gasped. It was beautiful. A chain of diamonds sat on the velvet, and in the centre was a rather large emerald. I looked up with tears in my eyes. "It's beautiful, Daddy."

He smiled. "That necklace has been an heirloom in my family for generations. Every Weasley daughter has worn it at her wedding. As our actions forced you to hide your wedding, I thought it might be nice for you to wear it to show my support and love instead."

I smiled at him, unable to stop the tears from falling. I felt Harry lean up carefully to have a look. Once more, his wand was out. Dad's smile faltered when he saw this.

"I'm sorry that we made you think that was necessary. You take whatever precautions you need to, Ginny girl."

Harry took the box gently from my hands and removed the necklace, and then he carefully placed it around my neck. He placed a small kiss behind my ear as he did up the clasp. "This looks beautiful on you."

I smiled softly before turning back to the room. "We didn't know you would be here, Hermione and Neville, so I'm sorry we left you out."

Neville chuckled. "You already gave me the best present I could ask for. Don't worry about it, Ginny."

I smiled. Harry leaned up again. "Would you like me to pop home and grab Hermione's, love?"

I turned my head and smiled at him. "That would be lovely." I hopped off his lap and watched as he disappeared from view, then turned back to face my family. "You can open your present, Ron. I swear we didn't do anything to it."

He glared at me but said nothing.

I raised an eyebrow. "Given the quality of the gifts we got for everyone else, aren't you the least bit curious?"

His eyes shot over Charlie, who was still playing with his dragons, Bill, who was holding tightly to his gift and carefully investigating it, the twins, who were passing the small bottles back and forth as they examined them, and Dad, who was prodding around at the model Burrow. Then his gaze returned to me. "Fine," he bit out, grudgingly. He carefully pulled off the paper, flinching as he opened the small box. When nothing happened, he looked closer.

He looked exceptionally confused.

"You might try an enlargement charm," I added, dryly.

He pulled his wand, then seemed to remember that he wasn't supposed to do magic, and handed it to Hermione instead. She muttered a quick spell, and the box enlarged rapidly.

Ron shrieked.

I giggled. "I have one of those myself. I think you'll enjoy it."

"Bloody hell! This is the new Firebolt!"

"Yes."

Ron looked up with wide eyes. Before he worked up the courage to say anything else, I whipped around with a smile on my face. I could feel a familiar energy approaching. I was looking right at him when Harry materialized in front of me. He smiled and held out a large box for me.

"Thank you, Harry."

His right hand came up and gently caressed the side of my face in answer. I took the box and, with a careful look around the room, stepped gingerly out of the ward. I handed the present to Hermione with a smile, and turned back to our corner. On the way, I stopped and kissed Dad on the cheek.

Hermione had already opened the box by the time I turned back around. She was nearly vibrating with excitement as she carefully examined the book it held. I knew it would take her a minute or two to figure out what it was, as the book was quite old, and handwritten. A line appeared in her forehead as she read, confused.

"Check the last page," I whispered.

She flipped to the back of the book, looked at it for several seconds, and then screamed. I clamped my hands over my ears and laughed.

Hermione looked up. "You... Is this... How... But..." She couldn't seem to get a single phrase out.

"Yes, that is a spell book handwritten by Cressida Ravenclaw, as dictated to her by her great-grandmother Rowena."

She screamed again, and I laughed happily. I think she liked it.

* * *

This time it wasn't me doing the jumping. Harry stalked towards me, his eyes wild with need, and he threw me onto the ground. I blinked and he was on top of me. He growled at me as I pushed up into his exploring hands.

"Do you have any idea how sexy that was?"

I mewled as he sucked furiously on my neck.

"To see you tear them apart for hurting me, to see you act every bit the furious lion protecting her mate, I've never wanted you so much in my life," he whispered in my ear as his hands attacked my trousers.

My mind was a hazy fog and the only thing I could focus on was Harry and the feelings that were coursing through me. I didn't even know if we had finished securing the Death Eaters that were only feet away from us. My eyes narrowed as I thought of them. They had used the Cruciatus on Harry, and I made them pay. I gasped as he ripped open my shirt. He must not have been harmed too badly, as he seemed quite enthusiastic in showing his thanks.

* * *

I was spending the day atop the tallest cabinet in the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. This was something that Harry or I did every week or two, to make sure we were keeping abreast of the recent developments in the war. We didn't always learn anything useful, but sometimes we got lucky.

As the greasy figure of my ex-Potions professor stalked into the room I drew in a quick breath. Today I was going to get lucky.

Behind Snape, most of the Order members trickled into the room. I was surprised to see that none of my family was there. Did Dumbledore think that they were helping Harry and me? It seemed the only logical explanation for why they were excluded from what seemed to be an important meeting.

Remus hadn't been invited back since he left Dumbledore's office with me in September.

Dumbledore was the last to step into the room, and he waved his wand at the door as he crossed the threshold. Then he turned to the room. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Severus, if you could tell us what you have learned?"

Snape nodded before beginning to speak. "The Dark Lord is starting to get desperate. He has lost all his Death Eaters of note, excluding myself, and most of his new recruits."

"Have we confirmed that it is Potter?" Came a growling voice from the corner. I looked over to see Mad-Eye and shrunk back out of habit. We weren't sure if his magical eye could detect animagi, but the possibility made me nervous.

Dumbledore sighed. "No, but I am sure nonetheless."

Snape nodded. "As is the Dark Lord. I gather that Potter has been sending him some calling cards."

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Potter's been sending... pieces, along with letters, taunting the Dark Lord. He has not been amused by this. He is getting... erratic, and has been muttering increasingly outrageous plans. Frankly, I am concerned."

"Can we use that to our advantage?" A woman in the back asked. I didn't recognize her.

"How?" The little man that spoke was Dedulus Diggle. "He knows that Harry is no longer cooperating with us."

"Yes, but he has lost most of his supporters, and is probably getting paranoid." She responded. "Would this not be the ideal time to attack?"

Dumbledore sighed. "I fear we would still be risking too much if we were to attack now. None of us have the power to eliminate Voldemort, and without Harry on our side we never will. We need to find him, and convince him to work with us."

I was amused to see a small smile on Snape's face. "You kidnapped his wife, after keeping her away from him for five years, and you think he would ever willingly work with you?" I had to suppress the urge to trill a chuckle.

"That is the past. He needs us now."

Mad-Eye barked out a laugh from his corner. "No he doesn't. He and the missus seem to be doing just fine on their own. They have managed to accomplish what we never could, and there are only two of them. Harry will take out Voldemort when he is ready. In the meantime, we should spend our resources protecting the rest of the wizarding world." I had to resist chirping a laugh. I think the ex-Auror was growing on me.

"I fear leaving Harry to his own devices. I do not wish him to fall."

Kingsley stared at him incredulously. "Fall? Isn't it a bit late for that concern? They have already shown they aren't afraid to use Dark spells."

"And yet they don't kill everyone." Snape spoke quietly. "You'll notice that the newer recruits, those that haven't had time to really do anything much, are always taken captive instead. Harry seems to be clear that he will punish harshly, but only those who deserve it."

"And what gives him the right to judge?" Kingsley asked.

"Someone has to, and no one else was willing. The Aurors and Order try to capture everyone, and you die in the process. And when you do manage to capture anyone of value, the Dark Lord is able to release them quickly. Harry has recognized that this is war and if we have any hope of winning we must do something more than just take the same people prisoner over and over again."

I was surprised by Snape's words. I knew that he understood Harry better than most, but it sounded like he actually respected what we were doing. Harry would be pleased to hear that.

"And what is to stop him from becoming the next Dark Lord?" Emmeline Vance asked. I glared at her. How dare she suggest such a thing.

"He has been pretty obvious about the fact that only those who harm someone will face his wrath. The only thing he will fight anyone other than Death Eaters for is his wife. Stay away from Ginny Potter, and Harry will leave you alone."

Dumbledore looked at Snape carefully. "You sound sure of yourself, Severus. Have they been in contact with you?"

Snape shook his head in exasperation. "Of course not. You destroyed any trust Harry might have had in me in September. But I've watched him for five years, and I think I know him better than most. He has always fought for her. I watched countless times as he redirected attention away from her, especially when it was coming from boys. He stepped in at least twice when one of her brothers was going to do something. You know what he risked in the Chamber of Secrets to get her back. And surely even you were aware of all he did last year to keep Malfoy away from her. You knew that the Dark Lord had tasked Draco to get close to her. Harry and Draco came to spells several times over her. I don't think she even knows any of this."

Dumbledore seemed to be pondering this. "This would seem to imply that he knew early on of their betrothal. How did he come by this information?"

"Lily told him." Snape answered.

Dumbledore's jaw dropped in shock. "Lily! But... how?"

"She left a letter for him in my keeping."

"Why did you not tell me of this?"

"She asked me not to, and my loyalty has always been to Lily above all else. Lily knew that you would be more concerned with Harry fulfilling the prophecy than his wellbeing. She was afraid you would keep him in the dark for the greater good. She made me swear an oath, and I was not released until after the marriage was performed."

There was a giggle from one side. "As my Mum always says," Tonks cut in. "Never come between a mother dragon and her eggs unless you want to get burned."

I waited until the room had emptied to hop out and fly out of the window. When I was a comfortable distance away I transformed back and apparated home, making a quick stop on the way. Harry was sitting in the front room talking with Sirius and Remus when I appeared, and he looked up with a smile. He must have noticed something in my expression, because his smile changed to a look of confusion.

"Moony, Padfoot, I have some things to discuss with my husband; if you could leave us alone, please."

They looked at me curiously. "Did you hear anything important?" Sirius asked.

"Tomorrow." I answered firmly.

He looked shocked, but finally shrugged and stood up. With a glance between them, the two men bid us a hurried goodbye and ducked out of the room. I never removed my gaze from Harry. When they were gone, he finally spoke.

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Is your family okay?"

"As far as I know."

He growled softly. "Gin... you're worrying me."

With a flick of my wrist, I summoned his wand. He watched it go with wide eyes. With both wands held tightly in my hand, I conjured ropes and in an instant his hands were tied. I knew this wouldn't keep him if he really wanted to escape, but he wouldn't fight me.

"Gin?"

"I know you, Potter. You would fight what I intend to do, as you are the most selfless person I know." He looked adorably confused. It was so much easier to surprise him now that I had to voluntarily let him in my mind. Every time I had tried something like this the first bit we were married he was always able to turn it around on me. "But tonight, tonight you are all mine and everything is about you."

His eyes darkened with lust, and he licked his lips. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Why is it that no boys, besides Colin, ever asked me out, Potter?"

He froze. "Um, they were scared of your brothers?"

"That might be partially true, but I think they were more scared of _you_." With a flick of our wands, my cloak was gone, and Harry's jaw dropped at my outfit. I was ever so glad that Hermione had told me about certain Muggle stores. "Wanted me all for yourself, did you, Potter?"

His eyes were hungrily devouring me, and he growled again. "You have always been mine, _Potter_."

I took a step closer. "Yes, I have. Is that why Ron turned up in the hospital wing at the end of my first year?"

He grunted. "He was plotting to _teach you a lesson_ for falling prey to the diary. I will never let anyone harm you."

I moved closer and straddled his lap. He strained against the ropes to get to me, but I sat just out of his reach. "And was it you who repeatedly put Malfoy in the hospital wing last year?"

Harry's eyes shot up from where they had been ogling my chest to meet mine. "Who told you that?"

"Snape had some rather interesting things to say about you tonight. He said you repeatedly thwarted Draco in his attempts to get near me."

Harry gritted his teeth. "The wanker had been tasked by Voldemort. They knew of our betrothal, and Draco was instructed to make sure you would be unable to go through with it."

I tilted my head, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Remember the night we were married, how I had to stop you from..."

I grinned, "Oh, yes. I remember."

"I said a betrothal bride had to be pure for the ceremony to be performed."

"And he was told to..."

"Yes."

I stared at him. With another flick of our wands he was sitting naked beneath me. "It seems that I have much to thank you for, husband of mine. So you just sit there and enjoy yourself."

* * *

I couldn't believe we were doing this.

When I had finally gotten around to telling everyone about what I heard in the Order meeting, I expected that Harry and Sirius would want to act soon. Both were just a little too impulsive sometimes, and I knew they would be worried about what Voldemort would do now that we had effectively backed him into a corner. I had, however, trusted that Remus and I could talk a small amount of sense into them.

Apparently, I was mistaken.

So here we were, staking out the mansion where Voldemort himself was hiding away. It was quite an interesting tale of how we got here. We knew that there would be numerous wards hiding this place, and we had tried, unsuccessfully, for the last few months to find it. But the knowledge that I had overheard had pushed Harry to try to do something extreme. Yesterday afternoon, Harry had turned his wand on me and put me into an enchanted sleep. The rest I only knew because he had gone over it with me several times before hand. He seemed to think I needed to know so that I wouldn't be scared, but I think he was telling me mostly to reassure himself that I would be fine. I know he would have much preferred that it was him under the stasis charm, but it had to be one of us and I knew our accomplice would respond much better to him than me.

After I was out, he transfigured me into a toothpick and placed a time-delayed reversal on me. If otherwise left alone, I would return to my normal form after 12 hours. Then he donned his cloak and went to visit Snape. I'm sure that meeting was quite amusing, but given that everything seemed to have worked out so far, Harry must have convinced the man to do as he asked. And, really, how hard is it to go to Voldemort's hideout and find an unobtrusive place to hide a toothpick? Of course, Harry didn't tell him I was the toothpick, just that it had an advanced tracking charm on it. If Snape had bothered to question it, he might have realised something more was going on. Only the fact that we were bound so tightly together in every way allowed us to portkey to each other's sides through any ward. After all, you cannot keep someone from the person that shares their blood, magic, and soul.

When I came to, I was hidden in an empty and dark room. After quickly checking that I seemed to be in good condition and that no one was nearby, I touched my necklace and summoned Harry to me. We had spent all day quietly making our way around the mansion, our animagus forms disillusioned for good measure. It was just now getting dark, and I was starting to get restless. This was the longest stakeout we had done in one go, and I was desperate to stretch my legs and ravish my husband. But I guess some things just had to wait for the after party. Pity.

Given our current state, it was rather hard to communicate. Harry could hiss instructions to me, though he had to be quiet, as we didn't want Voldemort to overhear anything. However, I had no way of speaking back to him, as I had no clue where his eyes were to look into and a bird couldn't exactly speak Parseltongue. I had to trust that he knew what he was doing. My attention shot to the left as he hissed at me.

_"Let's get closer. I want to know how many are with him when I go in."_

Following Harry's quiet hiss, I carefully made my way down the hall until we were only a few feet away from the door to Voldemort's throne room. I had to force myself not to react at that thought; the man was a delusional megalomaniac if he thought his presumption of having such a room would convince anyone who wasn't just as fanatical that he was somehow royal.

It is excessively boring to sit and wait when nothing is happening. The only activity we saw was a few low level idiots coming in to bring Voldemort reports or food. The ones who brought the food were lucky, in that they weren't cursed for what they brought. I knew Harry wanted to wait until the early hours of the morning, and I agreed with his reasoning. Those that were awake at that time would be much less alert. What I wasn't happy about was that this meant waiting some more.

My attention was once more drawn to Harry's hiss, and I tensed. This was the part I was worried about. Carefully, I hopped forward until I found Harry and touched the band around my left ankle against him. The disillusionment on him lifted instantly. His tongue came out, catching me briefly, before he slithered closer to the throne room and started talking.

_"Sssso manysss wizardsss... don't underssstand ussss... ssstupid wizardsss in oursss way..."_

We had captured several little garden snakes and listened to them for hours so that he could mimic their speech patterns perfectly. And, indeed, he had only moved a few feet when the door was thrown open and a young wizard came out, looking around carefully. He spotted Harry quickly, and picked him up, carrying him back into the room. I tensed and listened.

_"Wizardsss... doesss they not understandsss what I isss? Why aresss they takingsss usss? Insssolent foolsss."_

_"Hello, my young friend."_ I had to repress the shiver. Tom had changed, but I still recognized his voice.

_"Whatsss thisss? A wizardsss who speaksss to usss?"_

_"Yes, my friend. Welcome."_

_"Who isss you?"_

_"I am Lord Voldemort. The Dark Lord. How did you come here, little one?"_

_"Lord, yousss saysss? Yesss, I can smellsss that. I camesss becaussse of the powersss heresss. Great powersss theresss issss."_

_"You could sense my power?"_

_"Yesss, smellsss you I could. I hasss looked for powersss for yearsss, I have."_

_"Years? You do not seem that old, little one."_

_"Yesss, but it isss better tosss travel sssmall, don'tsss you thinksss?"_

_"Ah, you have power yourself, then."_

_"Yesss, powersss I seeksss and powersss I have. Many yearsss have I ssssearched. Powersss I have ssseensss, but neversss what I sssoughtsss."_

I listened as Harry spun his tale. It had taken us several days to piece together this story, as it had to be believable and get Voldemort to lower his guard. Harry told how in his long life he had met many wizards, powerful and otherwise. He was drawn to great power, but none of those he had found had intrigued him enough to stay. He spoke of meeting Dumbledore as a young man near the turn of the century; of finding Grindewald during the thirties; he even described a run in with Flamel in the seventies. And interspersed with these familiar names were many more, from all over the globe. We had been careful that if Voldemort knew of any of these, or was familiar with their locations, it would be feasible for Harry to have been everywhere he said.

By this time all of Voldemort's minions had gotten bored of the continued hissing that they could not understand, and wandered off to other pursuits. This was perfect for Harry's last tale.

_"I hasss met anothersss wizard with greatsss powersss. And only hesss, of the manysss I metsss before yousss, could ssspeaksss my tongue."_

_"There is another speaker? Who is this man?"_

_"Hisss name isss Potter."_

_"Potter? When did you see him?"_ Voldemort's tone was instantly more persuasive.

_"Beforesss I came heresss. He hasss great powersss, and he could ssspeaksss to usss. I almossst staysss with him."_

_"How do you know of his power?"_

_"I watchsss him forsss many daysss."_

_"You know where he is?"_

_"Yesss. I ssspent daysss in hisss home. There wasss othersss there. A girl with flamesss for hairsss and twosss men that camesss often."_

_"Could you take me there?"_

_"Yesss, if we leavesss now. My trail willsss fade sssoon, and the waysss I camesss will be lossst."_

_"Then lead the way, my slippery friend."_

I scurried as far back down the hall as I could, unsure if the disillusionment would be strong enough to hide me from Voldemort. Luckily, the lunatic seemed so excited to be following Harry, he didn't even look in my direction. I waited for several minutes till I was sure they were out of sight, and then I made my move. I reversed my transformation but not my disillusionment, and carefully made my way through the mansion, hunting as I went. Being as we had already taken care of the Death Eaters with any talent worth speaking of, and no one was suspecting an attack, I made quick work of them. Then I took a seat to catch my breath and wait for my husband's call.

The next hour passed with me trying my best to not imagine Voldemort figuring us out and killing my husband before I could get to him. I wasn't very successful in this endeavour. But when your husband is alone with the worst Dark Lord in recorded history, who just happens to want nothing more than to kill him, you shouldn't be held responsible for your imagination.

My breath caught as the necklace I wore warmed slightly. That was Harry's signal. With a calming breath, I clenched my wand, checked my disillusionment, and touched my hand to my neck. "_Diligo delecto_."

I reappeared in front of a large house in the middle of a field. Harry was standing in front of me, his back to me, with his wand trained on Voldemort, who was in a towering rage. I touched my necklace again to send the signal that I was here. In quick succession, it returned the signal that meant Remus and Sirius were nearby; it turned to ice around my neck for a split second. They had had their own mission today. We knew that if we weren't carefully, interested parties would try to claim the credit for what we were attempting to do, or try to prosecute us for it. So Sirius and Remus had spent the morning kidnapping Sirius' cousin, Auror Tonks. I'm sure she was probably spitting mad, but her presence here would serve to protect us.

I turned my attention to the rabid wizard in front of me. "You think you have the power to defeat me, boy?" He sneered. I could practically feel Harry's anger at the form of address; he hated to be called that.

But my husband didn't lose his cool. Calmly, he answered. "Well, I have you here all alone, don't I?"

"The opposite could just as easily be said."

"Ahh, you are assuming I didn't plan ahead, and that we really are the only two people here."

Voldemort roared, and started flinging curses. This was the signal. We all had our tasks today, and I jumped to mine. As soon as Voldemort threw his first curse I raised my wand and silently cast my spell. Tom himself had taught me Legilimency, and so I was one of the few people on the planet who could come close to matching his skill. While Harry battled his body, I battled his mind.

I was revolted instantly, but staid where I was. I wasn't searching for anything, just pushing as much of my magic as I could towards him, hoping to throw him off balance. I wasn't even aware of the spell fight, trusting in Harry to protect me.

Tom seemed to falter momentarily, and instantly there were more spells coming at him. Sirius and Remus were jumping into the fight to further disorient him. I pushed harder.

The contents of my stomach were trying valiantly to come back up, and I gritted my teeth in effort. Tom was pushing back against me, but he was too distracted to discover where I was, and so he could do no more than push against my probe of him as any more would require either eye contact or the use of a spell. Yet, this was still enough to drive me to my knees.

I pushed harder, recalling in vivid detail all of my times with Harry to give my probe strength. Harry had explained to me that any thoughts of loved ones tended to be toxic to Voldemort, and so I was using that to fuel me efforts. My left hand fell to the ground, and I was only barely able to maintain my aim with my wand. My hand was shaking violently. I dug my free hand into the ground to provide an anchor and pushed again.

Black spots started to fill my vision, and I struggled to maintain my focus. Harry needed me to do this so that he could win.

I pushed with everything I had. A small portion of my mind was paying attention to the real world still. Who was that screaming?

I pushed harder, and it felt like my entire body was being torn apart from the inside out.

And everything went black.

* * *

My whole body ached, and it felt like I was lying at the bottom of the ocean with all of its water pressing down on every inch of me. I couldn't see a thing, but after several long minutes of contemplation I determined that this was because my eyes were closed.

Unfortunately, I seemed incapable of doing anything about that right now.

My ears did seem to be working, as I could hear many voices in the background. I could hear Sirius arguing with a woman, who I guessed was his cousin he had kidnapped this morning. Good. At least that means he made it. I tried to focus on the other voices, and eventually picked out Remus whispering to another man. With a shock I realised that it sounded like my father. I could also hear muted arguing. I couldn't make out the words, but it certainly sounded like my mother. That must mean that we weren't at home, and it concerned me, as I had no idea where we could be. I didn't think they would take me to St. Mungo's, but then again, I didn't know what was wrong with me.

I was beginning to worry, as there was one important voice that I couldn't make out. Where was Harry?

I needed to find him, and knowing my shy husband, I wouldn't be able to hear him. That left only one option: I had to open my eyes.

I dedicated all of my energies to this endeavour, and after a considerable amount of time I was met with partial success. I was able to crack my eyes open, but I had no energy to look around, so I was stuck with a view of a white ceiling. Just great.

Alright, I'm going for my voice next. This didn't go so well, however. After an eternity, I still hadn't managed to make a sound. Why did the inside of my throat feel like I poured acid down it? I really wanted to huff in frustration right about now.

Suddenly, my view of the ceiling was obstructed.

Unable to blink them away, I just led the tears fall as I gazed into the most beautiful emerald eyes I had ever seen. Harry. I desperately needed to know he was okay, but I couldn't even shift my gaze to check him out. I tried to push my thoughts forward to him, but was unable to. What was wrong with me?

Harry must have noticed my distress, for he beamed at me and then climbed right on top of me. He kneeled with one leg on either side of my torso and placed his hands gently on either side of my face. This position meant he could sit there comfortably in my line of sight for as long as he wanted. I hoped he never moved.

_Hello, love._

Harry.

_Yes, love._

Are you okay? Please let you be okay. You look okay, but I can't really see most of you. I cann't deal with you not being okay.

_Of course. You were really the only one we were concerned about. The healers fixed me up in an hour or two, and Remus and Sirius never even got hit._

More tears fell. But what is wrong with me? I don't remember Voldemort hitting me with anything.

_No, he didn't. You used every ounce of your magic in your attack. It nearly killed you._

Oh. Alrighty then. But using my magic doesn't explain why I can't move. And why I apparently swallowed a cauldron full of acid.

_Our magic is what keeps our bodies working, so without it, you literally have nothing keeping you alive. We've been keeping you alive through artificial methods for over a day now. It isn't a pleasant process. And your throat hurts because you screamed yourself raw at the end there._

I screamed? Was I hearing myself at the end then? No matter. We better have gotten him. Please tell me he's gone, Harry.

_Yes, love. Tom is dead. He was already weakened by our attack when you started screaming with your final assault. It was strong enough for me to get the first major hit in. After that it was easier. _

I breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally gone. I hope that means we are finally free.

_Mostly. Although it is rather amusing to see all the people who have been by in the last day here to try and push their own agendas. But I've been ignoring them rather successfully. _

Good. We can deal with them later. Like in a year or two. I try once more to move something, anything, and get even angrier when I can't even growl in frustration. When the bloody hell am I going to get the use of my body back?

_Soon, love. We brought you to St. Mungo's because we didn't know what was wrong with you. They said your magic is starting to recover, and until it reaches a certain level there isn't much they can do. Potions and spells require the patient's magic to work properly._

This is ridiculous. I can't even claim my bloody victory kiss.

_I don't mind kissing my non-responsive wife._

He grinned at me and lowered his face. It was a rather odd sensation, having Harry kiss me and being unable to respond. But it was certainly better than nothing. He covered my face in kisses and returned to my lips. With a sigh my mouth fell open and his tongue invaded instantly. Without even thinking about it, I responded, and Harry's hands clenched in my hair as he attacked my mouth.

He pulled back bare inches, panting heavily. His eyes didn't leave mine as he spoke quietly to the room. I hadn't even realised there was anyone else in here. "Leave. Now. I'm going to kiss my wife back to health."

I heard a furious voice off to the side and caught just enough to deduce it must be a healer, then dismissed it. I only cared about Harry. He lifted his head further, removing his eyes from mine, and growled. I can only surmise that this sent everyone scurrying out of the room, because an instant later the door slammed shut and Harry's hand came up with his wand. He shot a spell at the door, then dropped his wand and returned to kissing me senseless.

This is most definitely my preferred method of healing. And it certainly seemed to be working. The longer he kissed me, the more control I regained of my body. Eventually I was able to bring my hands up and pull him down onto me. Then I started attacking his clothes. I needed to feel him. I needed to remember why we had fought so hard. I needed him to bring me back.

Frustrated that he didn't seem to be getting the message, I pushed him back slightly and hissed at him. It was easier than speaking English, and avoided the nasty little problem of anyone that might be listening at the door. _"If you love me at all, Potter, you will get us naked and remind me of why we fought this bloody war. Now."_

His brow quirked adorably. "Rather demanding little thing, aren't you?"

_"That wasn't a request, Potter. Now."_

He sat back on his knees and reached down for his fallen wand. Another serious of spells were shot at the door, and then he pointed it down at the two of us. Instantly, we were skin to skin. Without removing his eyes from mine, he set his wand aside and came back with a vial of clear blue potion.

"Drink this first. The healer said it would help with the pain you're feeling."

I dutifully opened my mouth and let him pore it in. When the vial was cast aside, Harry began the arduous task of reminding me that we were alive. He was rather diligent in this task, and spent the next several hours at it. Then we curled up together and fell asleep.

We never did get around to letting everyone back into our room.

* * *

Deciding it would be the ultimate punishment for Dumbledore, Harry and I elected not to tell anyone how we had defeated Tom Riddle. Instead, we gave magical oaths to Amelia Bones that he was gone for good and disappeared.

We spent the next month on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. No one knew who we were, and so we were left blissfully alone. Harry ravaged me every chance he got, and delighted in buying me things to spoil me with. The last week of our trip, we were joined by Sirius and Remus. Remus had brought a... friend with him, that had Harry and Sirius snickering. Evidently, she was Sirius' young cousin and an Auror to boot. She was also a metamorphagus, so we greatly enjoyed the rumours on the ship about what a player Remus was. After she got over being mad at him for kidnapping her the day of Voldemort's defeat, she set her cap at him and refused to take no for an answer. She seemed good for him, as she made him young again. Sirius didn't come with his own special friend, but that didn't stop him from chatting up every available woman on the ship. Watching him, it made me glad that Harry hadn't taken after his godfather in that respect. Harry could definitely charm the pants off any woman he wanted if he tried; I was just lucky he only ever tried with me.

When we returned after our trip, we only staid for three days. Neither Harry nor I could put up with the magical population of Britain. Now that Voldemort was dead, they seemed to want to crown Harry king and do whatever he said. We were both disgusted by their brainlessness. So after spending some time with my family, we left again.

Harry claimed there were endless places in the world he wanted to take me to. I agreed as long as they all had a comfortable bed. Some comforts a girl just wasn't willing to give up. And I still had a lot to teach my husband.

It's a good thing he's such a diligent learner.

The End

* * *

A/N: First of all, a lot of you were questioning Fawkes. I know that phoenixes are supposed to be light creatures. However, he is still allied with Dumbledore. If he were perfectly light he would have ended that a long time ago (even in canon, in my mind). The way I see it, is that Fawkes shares many of Dumbledore's prejudices and beliefs. He wasn't bringing Ginny into danger; he thought he was saving her from it.

Well, this has been fun. I hope you enjoyed my little flight of fancy. Originally, this was just going to a small one-shot because I thought it was a fun idea. And then it kind of got a bit out of hand. I have no plans to write any more of this story. Harry and Ginny spent the rest of their lives travelling the world, learning much, having a family, and occasionally visiting their friends back in England. They taught their children themselves, not trusting anyone else to do so. Every once in awhile they would run into an intriguing problem and decide to stay around to solve it for entertainment, but mostly they just enjoyed life.

As always, please let me know what you thought of my little story. As for my others. I've started revising War Against Voldemort. Godric's Legacy should have its last chapter posted hopefully by the end of the month. And I plan on starting to post my Harry/Daphne story (which will be considerably more mature than any of my others) about the same time. Elemental should continue to be posted fairly regularly.


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